Source Documents - SalonLogic Pro Data Library

Freedom of Information Responses

Official FOI responses from government departments covering employment, tax revenues, COVID loans, insolvencies, and ministerial meetings.

Document	Source	Period	Size	Download
Treasury Meeting Notes Ref: FOI2024/06014 \| March 21, 2024	HM Treasury	March 2024	81 KB	PDF
Treasury Meeting Briefing Ref: FOI2024/07188	HM Treasury	March 2024	58 KB	PDF
Hollinrake Meetings (H&BC/SEA/SOU) Ref: FOI2024/05866 \| 29 Annexes (A-X)	Dept Business & Trade	Oct 2022 - Jul 2024	165 KB	PDF
COVID Loans (BBLS/CBILS) Ref: FOI 25-002 \| £989m total loans	British Business Bank	As at 31 Mar 2025	307 KB	PDF
Employment & VAT Data by Region Ref: FOI2023/51378	HMRC	2018-19 to 2022-23	115 KB	PDF
Self-Employed & Flat Rate Scheme Ref: FOI2024/200347 \| 210,000 self-employed	HMRC	2018-19 to 2022-23	164 KB	PDF
VAT Business Counts & Turnover Ref: FOI2024/15284	HMRC	2018-19 to 2022-23	78 KB	PDF
VAT Liabilities & Employers NI Ref: FOI2023/99768 \| £334m VAT, £108m NI	HMRC	2018-19 to 2022-23	109 KB	PDF
Company Insolvencies SIC 96020 Ref: FOI019 \| 2015-2025 data	Insolvency Service	2015 - Apr 2025	187 KB	PDF
Insolvency Data - Table 1 (SIC 96020 by Region) Annex A - Annual insolvencies by area	Insolvency Service	2015 - Apr 2025	42 KB	PDF
Insolvency Data - Table 2 (All Sectors by Region) Annex A - Total UK insolvencies for comparison	Insolvency Service	2015 - Apr 2025	43 KB	PDF

Key Findings from FOI Responses

Treasury Meeting (March 2024): Meeting notes and briefing for the Hair & Barber Council's meeting with the Treasury on VAT and regulation, including the department's recorded position on mandatory registration
COVID Loans: £989m in BBLS/CBILS loans advanced, £240m claimed - shows legitimate business activity, not widespread fraud
Employment: 188,000 PAYE employees + 210,000 self-employed = substantial legitimate sector
Tax Revenue: £334m VAT + £108m Employers NI actually collected from the sector in 2022-23 - the measured baseline against which any claimed "lost VAT" figure should be read
Insolvencies: Sector-specific data 2015-2025 allows the "24% of UK bankruptcies" claim to be tested against official figures
Flat Rate Scheme: Only 1,738 businesses using FRS out of 14,900 VAT-registered - relevant to claims of widespread scheme abuse

ONS Annual Population Survey — Nomis Extracts

Raw Nomis output for SOC2020 unit groups 1253, 6221 and 6222 (salon managers, hairdressers and barbers, beauticians), UK, by employment type. Files are unaltered: each carries the ONS Crown Copyright line, the full query parameters and 95% confidence intervals, so every table can be re-run on Nomis. All extracted 9 September 2026. See the README for definitions and caveats.

Document	Window	Total / Employees	Download
APS occupation by employment type — Oct 2023 to Sep 2024 Baseline window of the February 2025 CBI Economics report	Oct 2023 – Sep 2024	235,000 / 85,400	XLSX
APS occupation by employment type — Oct 2024 to Sep 2025 First post-Budget year on the report's own window	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025	234,200 / 75,900	XLSX
APS occupation by employment type — Jan to Dec 2024 Baseline used in the BHC / CBI Economics July 2026 update	Jan – Dec 2024	233,100 / 91,500	XLSX
APS occupation by employment type — Jan to Dec 2025 Endpoint used in the July 2026 update	Jan – Dec 2025	230,200 / 70,100	XLSX

How these files are used

Window comparison: the four twelve-month windows support the employment outturn tables in the CBI report deconstruction, including the comparison of year-to-September and calendar-year baselines
Caveat: confidence intervals at four-digit occupation level are roughly ±11,000–13,000 on the employee total; differences between overlapping windows are within sampling error
Caveat: unit group 1253 is flagged unreliable (*) or unavailable (!) by ONS in the smaller breakdowns

ONS Business Statistics

Official Office for National Statistics datasets providing comprehensive business counts, employment, and turnover data from 2009-2024.

Document	Reference	Coverage	Size	Download
UK Business Counts 2024 - Local Authority Detail Complete geographic breakdown - all regions, counties, districts	AH1620	2024	272 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2022-2024 - Turnover Bands Three-year comparison with detailed turnover breakdown	AH1703	2022-2024	208 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2022-2023 - Geographic Detail Regions and counties breakdown	AH1383	2022-2023	244 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2022 - Local Authority Detail Detailed 2022 geographic data	AH1182	2022	264 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2009-2023 - Time Series Complete 14-year historical trend analysis	AH1452	2009-2023	205 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2020 - Local Authority Detail COVID-period detailed geographic data	AH743	2020	228 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2020 - Country Level England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland breakdown	AH776	2020	204 KB	PDF
UK Business Counts 2009-2021 - Extended Series Historical time series through 2021	Earlier	2009-2021	199 KB	PDF

What's in the ONS Datasets

Business Counts: Number of VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses by region and size (2009-2024)
Employment Data: Employee counts by business size and geographic area showing sector growth
Turnover Bands: Businesses grouped by annual revenue brackets enabling detailed financial analysis
Regional Analysis: Complete breakdown across all UK nations, regions, and local authorities
Time Series: Consistent methodology allowing robust year-on-year comparison and trend identification
SIC Code 96020: All data specific to "Hairdressing and other beauty treatment" sector

How to Use These Sources

✓ Verify Our Analysis

Download the raw data and check our calculations yourself. Every number can be verified against official sources.

✓ Submit Your Own FOI

Use our FOI references to request updated data directly from government departments.

✓ Test Published Claims

Compare official data against figures published by industry bodies, campaigns and commissioned reports.

✓ Academic Research

All sources properly attributed and timestamped for citation in research and policy analysis.

Our Methodology

Data Collection:

Freedom of Information requests to government departments (HMRC, Treasury, DBT, Insolvency Service, British Business Bank)
Public statistics downloads from ONS covering business demographics and employment, and Nomis extracts of the Annual Population Survey
Official ministerial meeting documentation and departmental briefings

Processing & Analysis:

Raw data extracted to spreadsheets with all formulas and calculations documented
Graphs and visualisations created exclusively from unmodified source data
All calculations shown step-by-step with methodology notes for transparency
Cross-reference multiple independent sources where possible to validate findings

Quality Control:

Flag any discrepancies, data gaps, or limitations transparently in all analysis
Update analysis when new data becomes available from government sources
Respond to corrections and feedback within 48 hours
Maintain complete version control on all documents and calculations

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