Business Diary: April 16

A report, entitled Beautiful Britain, from Salon Services, found that 53 per cent of surveyed salons in Yorkshire have seen an increase in the number of male customers over the last year, with haircuts, massages and hair removal emerging as the most popular male treatments.

It also found that nearly three quarters of salon managers in the region feel more optimistic now than they did last year – well above the national average of 58 per cent .

But the survey, of more than 2,600 industry professionals including 170 in Yorkshire, also showed that despite these higher than average levels of optimism for the year ahead, salons in the region are exercising caution when it comes to hiring. Thirteen per cent of respondent in Yorkshire said that they plan to hire in 2013, the lowest level in the UK after Northern Ireland and well below the national average, which sits at 22 per cent.

Alan Revitt, commercial and marketing director, Salon Services, UK & Ireland, said: “After a challenging year for the industry, it’s encouraging to see such high levels of optimism in Yorkshire. The ‘lipstick effect’ is beginning to wane across the country, so it’s unsurprising that local salons are being cautious about hiring.

“That said, the growth of male grooming in the region presents a big opportunity for the year ahead.”

Men in Yorkshire splash out on nail treatments every 33 days, compared to the national average of every 38 days, according to the research.

The rising popularity of male treatments in this sector may have something to do with another finding of the report... that David Beckham is the biggest style icon in Yorkshire.

Tweet in haste...

The downside of social media is that any idiot may publish anything. No hard yards spent fact-checking and ensuring that all reports are fair, accurate and balanced, social media users can simply write whatever thought comes into their head and publish instantaneously to the world.

The lawyer Diarmuid Deeney emailed Diary yesterday to share his thoughts on the traps this can set for careless users. He said: “It seems that no event of any importance can escape a social networking scandal, and the recent death of Baroness Thatcher is no exception.

“Step into the limelight a Metropolitan Police officer who tweeted remarks celebrating her death, which the Daily Mail got hold of and turned into a front page story.

“The officer then resigned and the Met released a statement deploring his remarks and saying it was right and proper that he resigned, leaving a strong suggestion that had he not resigned he would have faced disciplinary action for bringing the force into disrepute.

“This, amazingly, was the eighth such resignation from the Met in the last five years brought about by a social networking scandal not to mention seven straight dismissals for social networking issues.”

It’s a case of Tweet in haste, repent at leisure, said the lawyer, who works at Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley.

Helpfully for readers, he added: “Your social networking history is published to the world and can come back to haunt you.

“It is all very well to restrict comments to ‘friends’. However, ‘friends’ have a habit of falling out and doing strange things like passing comments to the press.”

According to Mr Deeney, all employers should have “robust” social networking policies in place.

“These should be linked to your disciplinary process and should have clear rules about posting offensive comments which could be traced back to your business,” he said.

“Employees should also be aware that posting derogatory comments about their employer could result in disciplinary action.”

You have been warned.

Realising dreams

Best of luck to four theme park workers at Gulliver’s who are running in the Virgin London Marathon next weekend.

Part of the cash they raise will go to a Leeds teenager who suffers from life-affecting illnesses.

Akeel Latif, 15, has been on the waiting list with children’s charity Dreams Come True in the hope of receiving an interactive ball pool, swing and slide to play outside with his dad.

Akeel has autism, epilepsy, global development delay and motor delay and is unable to speak.

Gulliver’s is raising cash for Dreams Come True, which works with seriously and terminally ill children.