In the Spring of 2015 The Bank of England aske the general public to nominate "people of historic significance" from the world of visual arts.

The hairdressing industry came together on a 'global scale' to nominate the late Vidal Sassoon CBE who revolutionized the Hairdressing industry and devoted his life to enhancing the profile of 'the craft' as he liked to call it. He also raised millions of dollars through his charity work, including the remarkable effort to rebuild homes after hurricane Katrina through his charity "Hairdressers Unlocking Hope".

The nominations movement was started by UK hairdresser Sean Dawson and Vidal's own daughter Eden Sassoon who wanted to see Vidal nominated not just for his remarkable achievement in fashion, but also to represent the 'often forgotten' role that the hairdressing industry plays both in fashion, beauty and in improving the lives of billions of clients worldwide.

Thousands of hairdressers worldwide nominated Vidal, but when the nominated list was released in July 2015 he's name did not appear.

Sean Dawson subsequently emailed the Bank of England for an explanation and received a reply with the reason, and I quote....

at the time of the nominations we consulted with the Banknote Character Advisory Committee and concluded that hairdressing did not fall within the field of the visual arts and therefore Vidal Sassoon is unfortunately not eligible to appear on the list of names to be considered by the Committee.

This exclusion is typical of the way both the hairdressing industry is viewed as a skilled craft and the importance of it to the British and Global economies.

The hair and beauty industry is worth £7.1bn to the UK economy annually, and is a key contributor to the UK’s dominant services sector, which overall accounts for more than three quarters of GDP growth and I would expect the Bank of England to be aware of this.....

But they are not, so we are going to make them aware.............

The list includes fashion designers Alexander McQueen and Laura Ashley, which we applaud but frankly I cannot see the difference between someone who creates fashion for the body being reconsidered as a 'Visual Artist' and someone who creates fashion for the head not being recognized.

I want hairdressers all over the WORLD to sign this petition which we will use to get Vidal Sassoon added to the nominations list, and receive an APOLOGY from the Bank of England for the exclusion of this great man and our great Industry...

Thank you for joining this campaign.