Illegally trading?

[Jade 8919]

Hi all, there is an unqualified lady going around my area offering hair, nails, waxing and teeth whitening. She has damaged a lot of people. Hair fallen out with burnt scalps, teeth cracking and poisoning, nails ruined, bleeding and too sore to work and now a lady with the first half of one eyebrow missing! She has had several reports of being drunk during service too.. I have been informed this not illegal? I am fed up of seeing people really harmed by this lady. How would I get her stopped if its not illegal? P.s. she does post under fake names and offen uses pictures of work which is not her own. Her customers are then harrassed when they complain. It's getting awful. Please if anyone can help, that would be great. Surely this all can't be totally legally trading?

 

[AcidPerm]

Hair and beauty services do not require the practitioner to hold any qualifications (!) but Teeth whitening is illegal if she doesn’t hold dentistry qualifications and she can be prosecuted for doing it. Also, it can lead to a criminal conviction and a fine and the GDC (General Dental Council) have a bottomless pit of money so they happily go after every small business owner that advertises illegal teeth whitening.

You can report her to the GDC by calling 020 7167 6000

To learn more read
https://www.gdc-uk.org/patients/illegal-practice/report-an-illegal-practice

 

[rubywoo]

As you will already know which borough she operates in you will need to find out if they require salons to be licensed under the "Massage and special treatment premises license." Call that borough and ask how they enforce their licensing, some inspect each and every person/premises that apply, others (somewhat shockingly) expect the general public to enforce the licensing terms by "relying on members of the public to call in if salons are not behaving in accordance with the terms of the licence."

Licensing enforcement various between boroughs, some have exceptionally high standards and levels of knowledge others couldn't give a fig as long as they get their money. Depending on the level of concern from the licensing department they will issue the person in question with chance to apply for a license first and is she isn't qualified she will be denied a trading license and effectively licensing team will be able to prevent her from trading. Local licensing authorities have the power to shut down illegal practitioners/practises, it is their duty under the licensing act. Find out which borough governs you here https://www.gov.uk/massage-and-special-treatment-premises-licensing. It's very easy for situations such as these to arise as some boroughs simply issue licenses without inspecting premises.

 

[Lynne Baker]

As an aside I’m holding a seminar at Professional Beauty North on illegal teeth whitening