Crimpers offered cash for clients

10:02am Friday 1st September 2006

HAIRDRESSERS are being offered £75 by solicitors every time they refer one of their clients who confides in them about their marriage problems.

Nail bar technicians, estate agents, chiropractors and physiotherapists across Hampshire are also being given the cash incentive from the firm.

They are being targeted because they build up close relationships with their customers over a long period of time and are often told about their private lives and personal problems.

A total of 300 businesses have been faxed letters from the Southampton firm inviting them to take part - with 30 companies already taking up the offer. They are being encouraged to hand out the solicitor's business cards if their clients reveal personal problems or family difficulties.

The letter, which the Daily Echo has a copy of, said: "In the hairdressing profession, working closely with your clients means that you are able to get to know them and build a level of trust.

"As a result, some clients may feel comfortable discussing personal issues while receiving treatment.

"In many instances you might provide a listening ear. At other times you might feel able to recommend them on to someone who can help out."

It goes on to say that Trethowans, in Rockstone Place, Southampton, would pay a £75 referral fee to the hairdresser for anyone whose case it takes on.

The scheme has been branded disgraceful by salons across the city who say it is an unethical practice and a breach of customers' trust. However, a spokesman for Trethowans today defended their new marketing strategy as a "creative" approach to bringing in new clients.

In a statement, the firm said: "In helping to strengthen links in local markets in Southampton our family law team designed a referral fee scheme that has been offered to a targeted audience group of businesses, which includes hairdressers, nail bars, estate agents, physiotherapists and chiropractors."

Trethowans marketing director Bryn Hughes said: One of our main aims is to help make both the law and Trethowans more accessible so that individuals feel more comfortable about approaching a solicitor when they need legal advice."

A spokesman for Tony and Guy hairdressers in Southampton said: "We certainly couldn't do anything like that. Anything we discuss with our clients is between us and them."

A spokesman for The Law Society confirmed the firm was acting within strict guidelines that allow referral fees to be paid as long as the client was made aware.