In early January,Phorest Salon Software hosted its 6th annual Salon Owners Summit in Dublin, Ireland. Applauded as one of Europe's leading beauty business events, this year’s edition attracted an international audience of more than 500 salon and spa owners from across the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, UK & Ireland. 

The festivities kicked off early on Saturday, January 4 for delegates from the US and Canada with a special itinerary, including a walking tour of Dublin, a special  lunch at the Dean Hotel and a pub crawl of Dublin’s iconic Temple Bar district. 

Sunday, January 5th saw the addition of a new event to the Summit's schedule. At ‘Inside Phorest - The Future of Technology for the Salon Industry’, attendees got the chance to meet Phorest’s product developers, hear more about what’s coming down the line in salon technology for 2020 & give feedback on Phorest features in development. Other elements of the afternoon included a special guest speaker from Instagram’s European Headquarters & a live recording of Phorest FM. This was followed by the Salon Owners Summit pre-party where guests networked the evening away ahead of the Summit itself on Monday. 

Hosted in Dublin’s world class Convention Center, the Summit  kicked off early on Monday, 6th January with an electric rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody - the perfect start to a day jam packed with engaging and inspiring mainstage and breakout sessions. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Create a 2020 Vision for your Salon’ and the welcomed a stellar lineup of 10 guest speakers to help attendees curate that very vision. 

In his opening words, CEO of Phorest Ronan Perceval drew on a few examples of how technology has transformed the way we work in the beauty industry in the past decade - things like online bookings, apps and social media. He went on to share the important competitive edge the salon industry has in this technology-dependent age 

“Salons and spas are one of the very few spaces that still provide that personal connection. Your profession is unique in that people will let you, a stranger, into their personal space and  in some cases you are considered a close friend as opposed to somebody who provides a service," he said. "With technology seeping ever more into our lives - this rare personal connection becomes even more important and we as an industry need to understand how to leverage this when looking forward to the next decade.  This personal touch for example should be used to create highly successful and effective marketing campaigns which will in turn help you guys get more clients into the salon more often. So although technology is undoubtedly important, you, the marketeers, relationship builders, style icons, are what will drive the success of the business, the technology we provide is merely a tool to help you succeed.”

The mainstage welcomed Marcus Allen, whose presentation proved to be a standout for many of those in attendance. Allen was the man behind the phenomenal growth of Urban Retreat in London’s famous Harrods, possibly the largest single-unit salon business in the world and his message was that of the importance of self-awareness in business, thinking like a start up and constantly re-inventing for ultimate business success. Orange County’s Jamie Dana also proved a massive hit with the Dublin audience. In her presentation Dana demonstrated how salon owners can  really leverage instagram to grow their business as well as sharing tips for helping staff contribute to the creation of a strong, cohesive online brand. 

Other speakers included:

• Pamela Laird, CEO of MoxiLoves & star of the UK Apprentice

• Ken Picton, President of the ‘Fellowship of British Hairdressing’ and owner of the multi award winning Ken Picton Salon

• Stefanie Jackson, Salon Owner & Generational Leadership Expert 

• Millie Kendall MBE, CEO of British Beauty Council & Retail Maven 

• Christophe Robin - Celebrity Colorist & Product Innovator 

• Kristian Tognini - Director of liloffthetop education & Product Innovator 

• Phil Jackson - Salon Owner & Consultant 

• Ryan Power - Beauty Business Coach & Numbers Driven Marketing Geek 

After a day packed with education, attendees were transported to the afterparty hosted in one of Dublin’s best known nightclubs for an exclusive night of networking & dancing! Information on the 2021 event will be released soon #LetsGrow.

About Phorest: Phorest is a cloud-based salon software, however it is not just a tool to manage appointments. It is a powerful system designed to assist with day-to-day business driving new business and generating referrals. Phorest is the software of choice for over 6,000 salons globally. For more information, visit https://www.phorest.com/us/