by Promising everything from a quick buzz cut to beard sculpting and scalp massages, the barber shop’s red and white striped pole is a staple of the British high street.
And as male grooming has gone mainstream, the number of barbershops has increased.
There are now 17,702 operating across the country, an increase of 50 pc from 2018, with 918 new establishments opening in the past year alone, according to the National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF).
However, experts are warning that many barbershops are engaged in human trafficking, forced labour, drug dealing and money laundering behind a low-key exterior.
Buying cut-price trimmings risks lining the pockets of criminal gangs who are exploiting the workers for profit, says Detective Superintendent Charlotte Tucker of Wiltshire Police, the officer behind the first British prosecution of modern child slavery.
“If something is really cheap, like a £10 haircut in London, it could be a red flag that workers may be underpaid or not paid at all.”
The average price for a haircut and beard is £19, according to consumer data platform Statista.
But the number includes huge regional variations, with some haircuts costing as little as £5 in the North East, while in the trendier neighborhoods of West London you can pay £100 plus.
“Everybody likes a bargain,” says DS Tucker. “But if something feels too good to be true, it probably is.”
‘The cycle of misery’
There are at least 100,000 victims of modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK, according to official estimates.
Traffickers take emotional or economic control over workers – who are often low-skilled and do not speak English – and pay below legal minimums to maximize profits.
If the criminal gang or individual has paid for the worker to go to Britain, they will use this “debt debt” to get the worker to do their bidding. “It perpetuates a vicious cycle,” says DS Tucker.
Nail bars, salons and car washes are traditionally hubs for human trafficking operations.
DS Tucker’s two-year investigation into the forced labor of Vietnamese teenagers at nail salons in Bath and Burton-on-Trent led to three convictions.
The young salon workers were trafficked into Britain and forced to work 60 hour weeks for little or no pay.
But while barbershops have received less attention, the lack of oversight and cash-in-hand nature of the trade make it equally amenable to illegal employment, says Justine Currell, director of modern slavery charity Unseen.
“We have had several cases of exploitation in barbershops. The ability to rent chairs, for example, and the temporary nature of the work. You can have workers coming and going.
“It’s a quick cash transaction. Even when it’s not just cash, we see that people are still exploited, working long hours and not getting paid what they would expect.”
Unseen identified 30 cases of labor abuse and modern slavery involving barbershops and hairdressers between 2016 and 2023, with five cases occurring last year.
‘Drug activity, money laundering and wider corruption’
Ms Currell suggests the recent proliferation of barbershops reflects a change in the way criminal gangs are operating.
“In the media, most of the attention was focused on nail bars and car washes,” she says.
“But it’s like Whack-a-Mole. You start pushing down in one area and the criminal gangs will pop up somewhere else, and you realize you didn’t stop it, you just displaced it.
“And [the criminals] think ‘OK, you’ve got your eye on the ball in this area, so let’s move elsewhere. That’s what we see happening.”
She also says that modern slavery in barbershops can go hand in hand with other forms of crime.
“Drug activity, money laundering, wider corruption – it’s happening behind what is perceived to be a legitimate high street business on your doorstep, with a lot of criminal activity, including exploitation workers.”
While most barbershops are legitimate, law-abiding businesses, some are linked to criminal gangs who make money by smuggling migrants into Britain.
An investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2022 found that an Afghan barber was using his barber shop in Cricklewood, north-west London, as a front for people smuggling.
Gul Wali Jabarkhel was offering lorry drivers thousands of pounds to bring people into Britain illegally from France and Belgium. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison along with three associates.
George Voloshin, an anti-money laundering expert at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, says those barbershops operating illegally are “often” run by ethnic minority organized crime groups.
He says: “Barbershops are usually owned by individuals from the Middle East, including Kurds, as well as Turks and North Africans.”
The recent increase in the number of barbershops makes it more likely that some of these operations are areas for people smuggling, including small boats across the English Channel, according to DS Tucker.
“It’s logical that there’s a connection between the two,” she says.
What to look out for
If you’re getting your hair cut at the barbers, there are a few things to look out for that could suggest your money is going to benefit criminal gangs, according to DS Tucker.
“If there seems to be a cascade of different staff working there, if they look tired, unhappy and miserable, this can be a sign of exploitation.
“If you’re not paying the team properly you can shortchange the competition. It disrupts a cycle of organized criminals making money if they don’t play by the rules.”
If the business insists on only accepting cash payments, that can also be a concern.
The National Crime Agency’s anti-modern slavery campaign – “Operation Aident” – investigates premises suspected of harboring indentured labourers.
But policing can only achieve so much, says DS Tucker.
“We rely heavily on the public to do some whistleblowing. It’s about calling out customers.
“This is not a problem you can police. It is not like the will is there to eradicate criminality, but it is very difficult to detect it.
She adds that anyone who suspects illegal behavior can call Crimestoppers or 101, or submit public information to their local police website.
“[The customer] You can say they went into a barber shop and it only cost £10, and there were other signs that workers are not being treated properly.”
Under the radar
Although there is no evidence that more than a minority of barbershops operate illegally, they can be an attractive option for criminals looking to launder the proceeds of crime.
Money laundering involves passing unearned gains through business books and paying tax on it, making it legitimate income.
Mr Voloshin says barbershops are a “classic example” of a front business for money laundering.
“These could be barbershops, small shops, laundromats, souvenir shops – in short, cash-intensive businesses. These are often used to launder dirty cash.
“It could come from gambling, drug trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution, extortion – anything of this nature,” he says.
“Cash is hard to come by, and criminals accumulate a lot of money in small amounts. These establishments are legitimate, in the sense that they have real clients, but when calculating the profits, they tend to add some dirty money into the clean money.”
One common task, according to Mr Currell, is for “crooked businessmen” to open one business after another over and over again.
“Their directorships are all over the place when you look at Companies House,” she says.
“You have a model where one or two people try to make as much money as possible, then close the business down and set up another one under a different name. We have seen that very regularly. They are gaming the system.”
This makes complete sense, says Mr. Voloshin.
“From a bank’s point of view, they will see customers making cash deposits, daily or weekly. If the bank sees a big spike in cash injections that could be cited as suspicious.
“So for a criminal who runs a barber shop, and wants to launder drug money, it would make a lot more sense to open a barber shop next door rather than putting more money into the previous business, so no a red flag on the bank’s radar. .”
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We regularly work with partners to tackle various compliance risks across business sectors.
“While we cannot discuss identifiable businesses, we take all reports of wrongdoing very seriously and take strong action to ensure that everyone pays the tax they owe.”
Caroline Larissey, chief executive of the NHBF, said: “While the NHBF understands that a small number of barbershops may be involved in illegal practices, it is the strongest sector on the high street.”
An NCA spokesman said: “Although most high street businesses will be completely legitimate, organized crime groups may try to use businesses to hide their activities or to launder the proceeds of crime.
“Firms that trade in cash are often among those who can benefit in this way.”
Recommended
How much your coffee habit is really costing you
Read more
