“The brand of coffee we serve is now more important than the shampoo we use,” says Mitch Wilson, owner of Sheffield hair salon Laundry, which has an all-singing all-dancing cafe within its Grade II-listed walls. “A fancy shampoo is expected, it’s what else you offer that’s now the primary pull.”

And that pull is more important than ever. A recent study by L’Oréal Professionnel reported that 200,000 fewer women are walking into salons than two years ago and research from Braun found that 64% of Londoners would choose an at-home beauty treatment over a salon appointment.

“High-street salons are battling two wars: mobile hairdressers and the increasing quality of DIY products,” says Amanda Nottage, editor of trade magazine Creative HEAD. She also acknowledges that few of us are able to spend three precious hours waiting for highlights to develop.

“We are time poor, so having a place to network alongside quick salon services is illustrative of our hectic lifestyles.” Behavioural expert Judi James agrees. “Smartphones allow us to surf day and night, flipping between a work call, texting friends and pinning out our ‘life narrative’ on social media sites,” she says. “It means places where you do ‘one thing’ are becoming less popular because we like to be doing several things at once.”

Here’s where to make your next appointment for a hair treatment/yoga class /business meeting…

6 UK salons serving up so much more than just great hair