Notts geeks - has anyone heard of this local bylaw?

[Lil Linz]

Has anyone heard of a local bylaw (only in Notts) which states that anyone doing any massage below the neck and above the ankle, must register with the council and pay an extra charge (about £80-130) to prove they are professionals, and not an ahem 'massage parlour'?

I was doing a file & polish on a client on last week who was telling me she's training in reflexology at college, and was told about this bylaw, and asked me if i've ever heard of it.
Well i've never heard of it, nothing was ever mentioned to me at college, and the only massages I do are in manicures and pedicures, but from the sounds of it, I would need to be covered by this.

I'm going to ring the council as soon as I get chance tomorrow afternoon, but in the meantime, I was just wondering if any Notts geeks have heard of it?

 

[kellyk]

im not 100% sure about this but from what i can make out you DO need to get the licence from the council if your a salon or home based but not if your mobile & i said i would be a mobile therapist doing massage on a few male clients but they said i didnt need one. i think im going to give them a ring about this again?

 

[Lil Linz]

im not 100% sure about this but from what i can make out you DO need to get the licence from the council if your a salon or home based but not if your mobile & i said i would be a mobile therapist doing massage on a few male clients but they said i didnt need one. i think im going to give them a ring about this again?

Thanks for replying so soon. :hug:

How did you find out about this bylaw? The client who told me about it said that it wasn't very well known.
That sounds strange that they allow mobile therapists off, but salons have to pay! I have tried searching the council website but icant find a thing on there, it is not set out very well.

 

[jenny2]

Apsolute madness, whatever will they think of next. Between the goverment and the council, it only ever seems to be pay pay pay. They give you in one hand and take in the other. they have been going on about helping small businesses and how they are going to help us. But from my experience i have not scene it yet, only on how they can make it more difficult. But then some would say these little obstacles are there to make us stronger xxxx

 

[gillian w]

I think the need for a licence to do massage has been around for a long time in many ,many places.Not quite sure what the idea is really as its quite obvious which are the brothels and whos doing the dodgy massages. I dont suppose many of us advertise our services with the same descriptions that appear in most of the locals.(Im just gagging to get you on my couch and give you a good rub down etc etc )
Unfortunately while they still go under the guise of health spas, massage parlours and masseauses we all have to go by the same bylaws and pay the same price ,even if we do earn a lot less money.

 

[sharlz]

Hi i'm from Notts and i didn't have any idea about this daft law either!
Thats until i wanted to apply for a sunbed licence and the lady asked me whether i planned on doing massage as well as i would need a licence to do this also.

The lady at the council told me that i would not need a licence if i was doing part body massage, but i would need to pay if i wanted to do a ull body massage.

I chose to stick to part body massage and now just offer back, neck & shoulder massages as the fee just didn't justify me paying to do full body's. HTH x

 

[fozzyo]

London councils require a license for the venue and each therapist.

Quite frankly it is a bloody stupid requirement and a complete waste of everyone's time. The only thing it does is boost the councils coffers!

In America they introduced the "The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork" to regulate the industy, not all states require certification with them. But in essence you have to do a 500 hour course and pass a written exam (massage is about touch not paper!). Part of the justification was to prevent prostitutes and escorts selling themselves as Massage Therapists. You'll never guess what happened. Most of the prostitutes and escorts just did the courses and took the exams!

Unfortunately in the UK Massage Therapists don't have a decent specialised professional body to represent their interests properly.

 

[therelaxationde]

hiya,

I had a salon in Nottingham for 4 years and had to have this license yes, it costs £125 a year

 

[jcpark]

London councils require a license for the venue and each therapist.

Quite frankly it is a bloody stupid requirement and a complete waste of everyone's time. The only thing it does is boost the councils coffers!

In America they introduced the "The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork" to regulate the industy, not all states require certification with them. But in essence you have to do a 500 hour course and pass a written exam (massage is about touch not paper!). Part of the justification was to prevent prostitutes and escorts selling themselves as Massage Therapists. You'll never guess what happened. Most of the prostitutes and escorts just did the courses and took the exams!

Unfortunately in the UK Massage Therapists don't have a decent specialised professional body to represent their interests properly.

London Councils exempt members of the FHT and CThA from holding the licence for massage amongst other bodies, so basically, the licence applies to those who have not met the national minimum occupational standards.

Massage Therapy is now regulated by the CHNC in the UK (although it's voluntary). Professional bodies are different from regulation. The main governing body for massage in the UK is the GCMT and the main professional bodies for massage are members.

PS - I wish we had the standards here that the US have - 500 hours minimum training would be great. Instead we have professional bodies accrediting courses where people can learn to become massage therapists over a weekend . Massage may be about touch, but it requires a foundation based on science and knowledge. It's a combination of art and science. It worries me that we have so many therapists coming on saying they can't do too much massage, their wrists hurt etc, they have a client who has a problem and don't know how to treat it and it is all down to insufficient training. I envy the standard training and quality of therapists in the US, it is far superior to here. I'm not saying there aren't good quality massage therapy training here, but the majority will be coming from sports massage.