The Phorest Blog

Ask any salon owner. Referrals drive our industry. It doesn’t matter how good you are at selling your business, word-of-mouth will always have a special power. It’s psychology. You have heard it a million times: humans are social creatures. Referrals and online reviews appeal to our very human need for trust and validation. They offer us an example of social proof.  And now that a serious amount o...

Phorest has long celebrated and supported the LGBTQIA+ community within the salon industry and beyond. And taking the time to listen, reflect, elevate and support the experiences, voices, and contributions of this community is part of our ongoing commitment to inclusion and education. In the spirit of helping one another grow, we’ve compiled a collection of resources and recommendations created by...

Want to boost your revenue this month? Here are some easy ways to get clients in; by using SMS and email campaigns, improving your Online Booking screen, and unleashing the potential of Phorest's powerful Client Reconnect feature! To read the blog, click here . Published on March 8, 2023 by  Gregory Twohig Want to learn more about what makes Phorest the software of choice for thousands of premium...

We are currently in the middle of a serious climate crisis. Seas are rising, temperatures are increasing, and a massive  80% of natural disasters are being caused by global warming . If  emissions don’t fall by approximately half by 2030 , scientists are predicting that the effects of climate change will become irreversible. As a spa business, you positively impact the health and well-being of you...

When Mayfair & Grace bought a four-story, historic former bank, they were guaranteed to stand out in Tetbury, a small market town in Gloucestershire, UK. However, it could have been a logistical nightmare. Owner Patsy Robertson is often downstairs in reception or her office, while the team is dispersed across the four floors, facing numerous journeys up and down the staircase. Fortunately, tec...

A few years ago, online marketplaces seemed like the perfect solution for busy salon, spa, and clinic owners. They offered more visibility, easier bookings, and a steady stream of new clients – what wasn’t to love? But in 2025, something has changed. Today’s most successful salons, spas, and clinics aren’t chasing short-term bookings. They’re building long-term relationships. They’re investing in...

According to Phorest research, only 50% of hair and beauty businesses have a lead management system in place. Without a system, even a handful of missed leads each week adds to serious lost revenue. With the right tools, you can collect their details, automate follow-up communication, and turn that curiosity into a confirmed booking. Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to simplify or u...

In every salon, spa, or clinic, there’s a quiet kind of magic happening every day. It’s in the way a stylist helps someone see themselves with new confidence. In the care a therapist shows to a client who needs a moment to breathe. And in the dedication it takes to keep showing up – with energy, creativity, and heart. On Hairdresser Appreciation Day this year, we wanted to go beyond “thank you”. W...

At the Phorest Salon Owners Summit 2025, Paddy Monaghan, the Chief Product Officer, and Rich Cullen, the Lead Product Designer at Phorest, unveiled hidden features that help salons, spas, and clinics maximise efficiency, empower their staff, and elevate business performance. This keynote highlighted Phorest’s deep connection with our clients, five powerful tools that salons, spas, and clinics can...

With the announcement of the UK’s Spring Statement, it seems that the professional hair and beauty industry continues to suffer at the hands of the Government. Change needs to happen. And fast.  This growing crisis in the industry is largely caused by the Government’s unfair two-tier tax system, which forces local salons to pay 3X the amount of taxes that other businesses on the high street pay. T...

In an age where old-fashioned customer service is getting lost in the noise of automation, digitalization, and depersonalisation, giving your customers an experience to remember when they visit your business can, and will, make you stand out from the competition. That’s what Consumer Behaviouralist and King of Customer Experience,  Ken Hughes,  explained when he took to the 2025 Salon Owners Summi...

At the intersection of love and people is the human need for connection. Between people and marketing, the human longing to feel recognised and engaged in ways that matter. And where marketing and love meet, we find authentic expression and real stories. But there’s something really quite special at the intersection of a “love for love”, people and marketing. If you recognise yourself in that, lik...

AI is already shaping the way we work and interact, but are we actively shaping it in return? Are we ensuring it benefits everyone? And are we still asking, with childlike curiosity, “What might happen?” In what took the shape of a keynote-meet-tech-computer-science-lecture imbued with wonder, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE didn’t just talk about AI and the future of work—she challenged every Salon Ow...

Great marketing isn’t just about creativity. It’s about strategy, consistency, and execution. However, as all busy salon, clinic, and spa owners know, when you're juggling clients, managing a team, and running a business, finding the time to market can feel impossible. That’s why Phorest created its wide array of marketing tools for the professional hair and beauty industry. From helping you plan...

At this year’s  Salon Owners Summit , Jacob Morris, a Product Designer at Phorest, took us on a journey through the salon industry’s evolving tipping landscape, weaving in humour, real-life stories, and some eyebrow-raising research findings along the way. The session wasn’t just about tipping – it was also about empowerment — this article covers all the insights. To read the blog,  click here . P...

Data has the power to transform your business, but only if it’s meaningful. In one of the most anticipated sessions of the Salon Owners Summit, Paddy Monaghan (Chief Product Officer), Nuala Maguire (Lead Data Analyst), and Niamh Greaney (Director of Customer Success, UK & Ireland) took the stage to demonstrate how real industry data can be transformed into actionable insights to help businesse...

Resilience and high performance go hand in hand, but too often, we confuse endurance for resilience. At the 2025  Salon Owners Summit  keynote by  Ronan Harrington , a resilience expert who has worked with industry leaders like L’Oréal, Deloitte, Meta, and KPMG, the audience was taken on a deeply moving journey—one filled with laughter, moments of awe, and more than a few tears. His talk on Sustai...

At this year’s  Salon Owners Summit , Peigin Crowley, Founder of  GROUND Wellbeing , took the stage to share her deeply personal journey of building a purpose-driven brand while confronting the realities of burnout. Her insights served as a powerful reminder that success isn’t just about capability—it’s about capacity. To read the blog, click here . Published on March 9, 2025 by  Sorcha Mullis Kee...

At Phorest, we understand that thorough documentation is a vital part of delivering safe, high-quality care. However, you didn’t choose this career to spend hours on paperwork – you chose it to help clients look and feel their best. With Dot Phrasing, your focus stays where it belongs: on providing expert care, building strong client relationships, and delivering exceptional results. To read the b...

What if running a medspa aesthetic clinic could be smoother, smarter, and more efficient than ever? In their Salon Owners Summit session, Aoife Hannigan, Director of Engineering, and Verna Wall, Head of Research at Phorest, showcased how Phorest is revolutionising medspa and aesthetic clinic operations through AI, automation and workflow optimisation. To read the blog, click here . Published on Ma...

When Daniel Mason-Jones stepped onto the stage at the Salon Owners Summit, he opened his keynote with unexpected vulnerability, saying, “I’ll be completely transparent. I’m so nervous. Do you ever get nervous?” With a mix of humour, personal stories, and unfiltered truth, Daniel set the tone for a conversation that the industry desperately needs to have – one that goes beyond hair, beauty, and bus...

Taking to the stage on Day 2 of the Salon Owners Summit, Aine Solon knew she was speaking to an audience that was all too familiar with the challenges of hiring and retaining staff. Having worked in recruitment for over a decade and having been a hairstylist herself, she understands the struggle. Her workshop gave salon, clinic, and spa owners a practical framework to make hiring easier and more e...

Apps make appointment booking quicker and easier. With the  average amount of time people spend on their smartphones  increasing every year, giving your clients a salon-branded app keeps your business front-of-mind while also making it easier for smartphone users to book appointments without having to search online. In fact, with  88% of people spending more of their time browsing mobile apps than...

Did you know that people are

As of February 2025, 63.9% of the world's population uses social media, Instagram continuing to be a crucial social media platform for salons. With new features and trends emerging, it’s important to focus on increasing engagement to keep your salon front and centre. We understand how challenging this can be, so we've compiled 10 detailed Instagram tips to help you grow audience engagement with yo...