The best and worst UK cities for beauty treatments

New research from global financial technology company SumUp reveals what really matters to customers when booking beauty appointments – and it turns out finding the lowest price isn’t high on the list

Analysing more than 325,000 UK reviews across skin clinics, nail salons, makeup artists, hairdressers and barbers, the study found that friendly, professional staff and reliable appointment experiences are far more likely to earn positive reviews than value for money.

The findings come at a time when online reviews play an increasingly important role in consumer decisions, with thousands of Brits searching for beauty treatments online each month, according to Google search data.

As AI-powered search increasingly summarises customer reviews before even landing on a website, businesses are under greater pressure to deliver experiences customers are eager to recommend. 

The UK’s most-loved cities for beauty appointments

Bristol crowned UK’s best city for beauty appointments

Bristol emerged as the clear winner, achieving an overall score of 95.2 out of 100, more than 15 points ahead of the next highest-ranked city. Customers frequently praised the quality of treatments and experienced staff.

London ranked second with a score of 80.7. The capital received particularly strong feedback for its appointment management and reliability, making it the UK’s highest-scoring city for a smooth, hassle-free customer experience. 

Sheffield rounded out the top three, highlighting high quality and results.

UK’s most complained-about cities

Manchester sees the most customer complaints 

While many cities received glowing feedback, others showed greater room for improvement. 

Manchester recorded the highest overall complaint score at 79.3 out of 100. Concerns around appointment reliability and value for money appeared more frequently here than in any other major city analysed.

The findings suggest that while customers are willing to pay for quality beauty services, their expectations around punctuality, communication and overall customer care remain high. 

Manchester also recorded the highest average number of complaints related to delayed, cancelled or rescheduled appointments, with 38.3 mentions on average. For busy consumers fitting appointments around work and family commitments, reliability appears just as important as the treatment itself.

Friendly service beats low prices

Across all beauty categories analysed, customers were far more likely to praise friendly, professional staff than low prices. Staff behaviour appeared in almost 39 out of every 100 positive reviews, while value for money featured in just 2.63.

Meanwhile, delays, cancellations and booking issues emerged as the bigger frustrations, showing that reliability is just as important as the service. 

* Scored out of 100

The data reveals a clear pattern across the beauty industry: people are far more likely to leave a glowing review after receiving friendly, professional service than after simply receiving good value for money. 

Meanwhile, rude interactions, poor communication, and appointment disruptions are among the strongest drivers of negative feedback. 

Gabriel Destremaut, small business expert at SumUp comments, “For beauty business owners, the takeaway isn’t necessarily about offering the cheapest or the fastest service. It’s all about removing friction points that can turn an otherwise positive experience into a negative review.

“From making it easier to book to being attentive during the treatment, small changes can make a big difference to the overall experience. When the diary runs smoothly, customers are more likely to remember their visit for the right reasons.”

Methodology: 

This analysis draws on 325,528 written Google Maps reviews covering the UK beauty sector, spanning barbers, hairdressers, nail salons, makeup artists and skin/aesthetic clinics. Each review was matched to a labelled business (by address/name) to inherit a city and category, with star ratings used as a sentiment proxy: 1-2 stars counted as complaints, 4-5 stars as praise, and 3-star reviews excluded as neutral. 

A fixed set of five complaints and five praise themes per category was identified from common language patterns (reviews could count toward multiple themes), and both theme and city rankings were calculated as mentions per 100 relevant reviews. Complaints against the negative-review base, and praise against the positive-review base, with cities qualifying only if they had at least 5 reviewed venues and 30 relevant reviews.

To produce the final city rankings, cities were scored on a points system (5 points for 1st place, down to 1 point for 5th) across all relevant category and theme rankings, then ranked by total score. This weighted approach favours cities that consistently place in the top five for beauty-related complaints or praise, rather than simply those that rank first most often.