• 15 November 2022
• Stella Smith at pirkx
• 3 minutes read

Our sponsorship of the National Hair & Beauty Federation’s Top 100 Influencers

Celebrating the reason pirkx exists

Last night I had the honour of attending the National Hair & Beauty Federation’s Top 100 Influencers awards, as part of our sponsorship of this wonderful initiative. It was a privilege to be there to celebrate so many amazing hair and beauty technicians who are spreading the word about their industry so successfully. 

The reason pirkx chose to sponsor this is very close to my heart.

The idea for pirkx sprung up from a previous business I was looking to build, which bought beauty services to people’s homes. The network of therapists on our books were all contract workers and, while I wasn’t an employer as such, I did want to look after them and give them access to the same benefits as any employee of a large company. Yet, I just couldn’t find any package which was either affordable, flexible, or available. Private health care packages were too expensive and often did not consider more holistic wellness needs, and there were no comprehensive options available to support with the budget I had.

I concluded that contract workers, the self-employed and indeed many small businesses without deep pockets were effectively locked out of employee benefits, and this was simply neither fair nor acceptable. I wanted to build a business which gave these workers benefits that were meaningful that would take care of them and their families. pirkx UK now includes 24/7 private doctors, counselling and therapy, gym, and shopping discounts and all the brilliant services so many other workers have access to. Three years later, I’m proud to say we have achieved this ambition.

63% of people working in hair and beauty are self-employed. [1]This is a huge proportion of this workforce who are likely not to have any benefits support.

pirkx would not exist without my background working with this industry so I feel it is my duty to give back to them.

At Christmas time, these fabulous stylists are rushed off their feet preparing people for festive parties. We need to make sure they are looked after as well as they are looking after us, and pirkx is doing our small part to make this a reality.

Well done to all the winners!

S x

#beautyofpirkx

• Stella Smith
• CEO