The latest issue of BarberEVO UK and Ireland is OUT NOW.

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Firing into 2022

The latest issue of BarberEVO UK and Ireland is OUT NOW. This issue is packed full of advice, features and trends to keep you up to date with what’s current.  

Gracing the coveted front cover is a talent in the ascension, Dean Gleeson, who has recently been named Professional Barber World Series Barber of the Year, and brand ambassador for Dapper Dan. Dean has some great advice on how to elevate your career. First thing to do is enter competitions.  He is proof that his advice works as he finds himself on stage and being featured in the barbering press.

Also, in this issue we are hugely excited to introduce Simon Shaw as our new columnist. Simon is known for his expertise, knowledge and incredible stage presence. As Wahl’s Global Artistic Director and now the team leader of the Fellowship of British Hairdressing Project:Men, Simon has plenty to report in his column ‘Shaw Times’.

Also joining the BarberEVO columnists are Rum Barber’s Paul Montgomery and Joseph Goss. Known as the go-to duo for impartial reviews on any new tools and tech that hits the market, they are perfectly placed to offer advice and direction to BarberEVO readers on what’s living up to the hype.

Events

They are back! We feature an update from the organiser of Barber Connect, Europe’s biggest barbering show that is scheduled for June 2022 in Telford. He tells us what to expect after two years of absence, and how now is the time to book FREE tickets for the event.

New year trends

A new year brings new looks, and we have the views of the industry’s top barbers about what trends we are likely to see in 2022. There’s an overall consensus that longer hair is back, and the mullet is making a comeback, albeit with an updated look.

Marketing

How you market and brand your business is up for discussion, and we talk to Octane Hairdressing for Men, which has an amazingly strong brand about why that matters. Also, we talk to Where’s It App, a specialist app company that can help nail down your brand with a bespoke app that makes customers lives easier by integrating your own brand into your booking app. 

Additional services

Cutting hair is your bread and butter but what about all those additional services you are missing out on. Shaving, facials, and colour, to name just a few. Have a look through our additional services feature and see what you could easily implement into your service menu. 

We speak to Colin Petrie (Hard Grind) who has taken additional services to a whole new level by adding coffee shops, cafés and apparel to the Hard Grind brand. He has some great advice on what works as additional services in the barbershop.

Clippers and trimmers

We can’t work without them, but what works for you? Everyone has their favourites, and the choice is vast. We speak to industry pros about what clippers and trimmers are their go-to’s and we have the expert view of tool reviewers Rum Barber to help make your mind up.

Get your hands on the latest edition here.

The National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) is calling for government support as the results of its latest poll show that salons and barbershops are experiencing unprecedented levels of cancellations during their busiest month of the year due to clients having to self-isolate or changing their mind as a result of Plan B and the emergence of the Omicron variant.

In a month which usually sees salon columns fully booked and waiting lists in place, 73% of respondents had experienced cancellations, with 56% reporting a reduction in advance bookings following the recent changes to government guidance. More than half the respondents said that the cancellations had already caused a lot of disruption to their businesses.  December is the busiest month of the year for the hair and beauty industry, setting salons and barbershops up financially for the quieter months of the new year. Now many in the industry are under extreme pressure to stay afloat.

28% of businesses also reported disruption in the salon due to staff shortages and staff having to self-isolate.

NHBF chief executive Richard Lambert commented: “This situation is evolving rapidly, but it’s already clear that the government needs to act before it becomes a crisis.

“The industry had shown its resilience and was on the path to recovery, but early indications show that that the combination of Omicron and Plan B are having a drastic effect on bookings and footfall in salons during a time in which the sector relies heavily on cash generated in December to get them through the quieter months in January and February. Many of our members tell us their finances are still finely balanced, and this sudden fall-away could be devastating.

“The government needs to provide targeted financial support to help the industry quickly, whether by reallocating existing resources or making new support available. We are also calling for an increase in the 50% discount on business rates for next year and flexibility on repayments of CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) and bounce back loans to offer much needed support to those suffering financial hardship.”

Paul Lofthouse will be celebrating this festive season, having just been named as the winner of the Sam Wall Unsung Hero Award at the brand-new Collective Pride Awards, sponsored by Professional Beauty.

Launched by mental wellbeing and suicide prevention charity The Lions Barber Collective, the Collective Pride Awards recognise the hard work of unsung hair and beauty heroes across the UK, in eight categories – those who not only deliver exceptional services day in, day out, but go the extra mile to help others in a time of need, genuinely making a difference to someone’s life.

Tom Chapman, founder of The Lions Barber Collective said:

“After losing award-winning barber, LBC Ambassador and friend Sam Wall to suicide last year, I wanted to do something to keep his name alive – celebrating those who really look after their clients and the communities they sit within, as well as those who go above and beyond to make a difference to the industry. I am so proud that Paul Lofthouse has been awarded the Sam Wall Unsung Hero Award for the phenomenal work he has been doing within the industry, and work like his is the reason the Collective Pride Awards were born.”

Paul Lofthouse won the Sam Wall Unsung Hero Award for work he has done in mental health diagnosis and treatment, suicide prevention and suicide bereavement services. Paul lost his father to suicide in April 2020, and has dedicated a large amount of his time to working with Hospitals and looking services in Hertfordshire & Essex to ensure mental heal this treated as seriously as physical health and that support is available for those who need it.

He said:

“It is a huge honour to win this award and I dedicate it to my Father, who we lost to suicide and my Mother who we lost to Covid-19, both in April 2020. I look forward to collecting my award in January.”

Tickets to the Awards Ceremony, which is taking place on Monday 17 January at the Barber Surgeon’s Hall in London. Tickets are now available to purchase via Eventbrite.

Jim Shaw of Toni&Guy, Billericay, offers some advice on how to make sure you are fully prepped for the new year.

2022 is only a month away and it’s important that we are prepared for the New Year in order to get it off to a smooth and successful start.  

1. Think about your service menu – are there any additional men’s services you could be offering? Men no longer just want to come into the salon/barbershop for a haircut anymore, they want to come for a pampering experience, which may include having a facial or manicure or even just adding some additional hair or beard treatments. Talk to your clients now about what services they would like to see in the salon, do some research and offering something exciting to your loyal clients for the New Year, which may also attract new clients into the salon too if you’re offering something that your competitors aren’t. 

2. Put in plans to motivate your team – coming back from time off during the Christmas period can be hard and you want your team to be as motivated a possible to be able to deliver the very best services to your clients. Start to look now at training sessions that may be available at the start of the New Year. Training could be via yourself, another industry men’s hairdresser or barber, or even a men’s haircare brand. Keep your team inspired to allow them to ensure they want to deliver their very best when they come to work. 

3. Communicate with your clients – clients are the key to our success and we should always be communicating with them to encourage them to come back to our salons/barbershops and to show them that we care. It’s a good idea to put into action a plan on how to better communicate with clients in the New Year, be this via social media, newsletters or text messages. Tell your clients what you have been working on and also inform them of anything new happening in your salon or barbershop. This could be new products, new services, new team members or also any offers or discounts you are offering that may encourage them to come in in the New Year. 

4. Keep your salon/barbershop looking its best – Covid has been around for some time now and it’s not going away anywhere anytime soon. Client’s want to feel comfortable and at ease visiting your space and know that your cleanliness and safety measures are of a high standard. Take some time during the Festive period to have a clean and to ensure all safety measures are up to scratch. Take photos of your space looking as gleaming as ever to help attract clients in the New Year. 

5. Think about the quieter months of January/February now – It’s a great idea to encourage clients to come book into the salon/barbershop for their January/February appointments now to try and fill spaces in these quieter months as much as possible. In December, talk to your clients about booking in for their next appointment in January/December and also try to encourage clients to book gift vouchers as Christmas gifts that their loved ones can enjoy in the New Year. You may also want to look into some offers you can promote in January/February to attract clients to make bookings. Promote these now to get as much return as possible. You can also think of fun ideas such as handing out cards to your clients who come in during December with a discount if they book in January or February. This is also a nice little way to say thank you to your clients. 

NEW YORK, DEC 13, 2021 — Fresha, a leading platform for beauty and wellness, announced today more than $52 million in additional investment extending the company’s recent $100 million Series C round led by General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, to more than $152 million and valuing the company at more than $640 million. The extension investment was led by Michael Lahyani and BECO Capital, and also included new contributions from Fresha’s existing investors General Atlantic, Partech, Target Global and FMZ Ventures. The company has raised $182M in investment to date and will put the new capital to use by further expanding its global community of partner salons and spas, with the goal of accelerating product development and driving marketplace bookings.

Fresha enables consumers to discover, book and pay for beauty and wellness appointments with local businesses via its marketplace, while simultaneously offering salons, spas, barbershops and beauty professionals an all-in-one platform to manage their entire operations with its intuitive free business software and financial technology solutions. Fresha’s digital ecosystem gives merchants everything they need to run their business efficiently and seamlessly by facilitating appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer records management, marketing automation, loyalty, beauty products inventory and team management.

Fresha has provided the beauty and wellness industry with a unique model of providing free business software. This approach has helped to eliminate the friction for small business owners to join the digital revolution en masse and to engage and transact with their clients online. Fresha has seen unprecedented growth since the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses looked to bring their operations online and maximise their revenues by acquiring new customers through the platform’s consumer marketplace.

Fresha’s product-led strategy has enabled it to become one of the market leaders in the industry, growing its merchant base primarily through word-of-mouth. Fresha has amassed an extensive base of approximately 60,000 merchant venues, primarily located in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The platform is used in 120 countries globally and each month, customers book tens of millions of appointments on the platform, processing over $15 billion in gross merchandise volume to date.

“We believe that professionals like barbers, stylists and therapists should be able to focus on their craft without having to worry about the daily hassles of running their businesses,” said Fresha Co-Founder and Chief of Product Nick Miller. “We’re committed to providing the very best product with a seamless customer experience at the lowest price point.”

“Our ecosystem proposition differs from the more traditional incumbent software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers that focus on a single offering,” said Fresha Founder and CEO William Zeqiri. “Business owners once had to utilize fragmented tools that attempt to solve operational challenges piecemeal; a business might use MailChimp for marketing, Wix for their website, Shopify to sell beauty products online, Square for payment processing, and other tools for calendar management and marketing. Our mission is to be the go-to one-stop-shop solution that addresses each and every pain point for the industry holistically, with an overarching vision to help connect the world to beauty and wellness.”

This unique approach is what excites Fresha’s investors. “Fresha has positioned itself as a major player in the beauty and wellness industry with a large and loyal customer base,” said Aaron Goldman, Global Co-Head of Financial Services and Managing Director at General Atlantic, in a statement. “We strongly believe in Fresha’s balanced strategy of providing one of the best products in the market at no cost to salons and then driving monetization via payments and value-added services.”

For more information, visit www.fresha.com, download Fresha on the App Store and Google Play or follow Fresha on Facebook and Instagram.

With the busy period almost upon us, this month already seems to be crazy busy for many stylists who are squeezing in as many clients as they can, working longer hours and taking less breaks.  

But while the financial return may be great to see, your mental and physical health can take a battering. Matrix Artist Ambassador, Ria Kulik, believes it’s important to recognise the symptoms of burnout before it’s too late – both in yourself and your team.  

“I start to notice when the smallest of things are making a person really stressed, when you start clock watching to see how long it is until your next sleep, then sleeping but waking up just as exhausted, feeling like you  have lost touch with friends and family, like you are on a relentless hamster wheel, wondering when you will enjoy your job again, finding that others are irritating you more,” she explains.   

“Even though you should say no, you just say yes to everything, and throwing yourself into more work to try and regain the spark for the job. I’ve been there before myself when you feel like your brain is completely full, it feels like it’s about to burst, and it can’t cope with any more questions from people, problem solving or decisions to make other than the task in hand at that particular moment in time. That’s the point I can tell when someone needs a little reassuring and possibly a hug that things will be OK.. 

Ria says there are five steps to take to avoid feeling overwhelmed 

1. Self care 
   You are the priority. If you care for yourself first, then you will be able to care for your clients better. If you think you are burnt out, then today is the day you put yourself first. 
   
2. Set professional boundaries 
   Mainly the hours you work. Pick how many hours you are going to work and stick to them, you can’t be accommodating to everyone, and it will encourage clients to become more organised in the future which will help you feel organised in your day to day. Stay away from doing ‘favours’ by coming in early or staying late for people. Protect yourself and ask them to find another appointment that suits them. 
   
3. Turn that phone off 
   Another big one for people is being contacted by clients at any time of the day and night. With social media and emailing being a massive part of how clients contact you, only contact clients during your working hours. Or set aside time in a day to get back to those clients. A polite, automated message explaining this goes a long way; people understand and it takes a massive pressure off you. 
   
4. Enjoy the little things in life 
   Make sure you have booked some real down time away from work. Whether it is seeing friends and family or going to your favourite spa for the day, put that phone on aeroplane mode and allow yourself to enjoy life.  
   
5. Plan to invest in yourself and your skills.  
   Taking a day away from the grind and educating yourself is a great way of boosting yourself up and is a great way to meet others in the same position. 

Ria’s top tips for avoiding burnout

1. Set boundaries. 
   
2. Stick to your allocated working hours and schedule. 
   
3. Turn your phone off or put it away for a day on your days off. 
   
4. Give yourself some me time, even if it’s just 15-minutes a day of quietness. Close your eyes and check in with yourself. Maybe with your morning cup of tea? Dog walk? In the shower.? Even better, try meditation. 
   
5. Make sure you laugh at least once a day. It releases natural, happy endorphins that will help you feel so much better and help connect you back to your old self. 
   
6. Reconnect with friends and family and ask to see them for an hour to spend some quality time. This will help ground you back down to earth and help you see what really matters in this life. 
   
7. Allow yourself to feel upset and sorry for yourself for a day if that’s what you need to do to cope with the daily grind of it all. Spend some time on your own doing nice things just for you.  

Ria describes the symptoms to look out for in your team

1.  Exhaustion, no matter how much time you give yourself to relax, you don’t/can’t relax.  
   
2. Feeling overwhelmed. The little things start becoming big problems for you to handle. 
   
3. No balance between work and life. 
   
4. Feeling very Stressed.  
   
5. Sometimes can feel anxious and suffer more with controlling your mental health. 
   
6. Becoming resentful of your job. Loss of enthusiasm.  

To learn more, follow @Matrix on Instagram and visit  www.matrixhaircare.co.uk.  

ELITE barber Kyle Ross is set to serve up a trim for tennis royalty ahead of an auld enemy grudge match that is being played in Aberdeen. 

Multiple grand slam winner Jamie Murray OBE is bringing his “Battle of the Brits” event to the city – a live Scotland versus England tennis match featuring some of the biggest names in the sport. 

The doubles legend – who is also the older brother of Wimbledon winner Andy Murray – sought out the services of Kyle, 32, who has won multiple awards as managing director of the city’s Sovereign Grooming.  

The tennis star admitted that a gruelling schedule of matches and events has often left him struggling with an unruly mop of hair, so he was determined to do something about it. 

Jamie, 35, said: “When you are in the public eye the pictures and videos captured are documented for life and it’s a normal human reaction, that if you see something you don’t like you will pay more attention to it in the future. I’ve learned that first hand. 

“Being on the road has its challenges and getting a good hair cut is one of them. Every new country brings the risk of a bad hair cut and I’ve had many in my time, including recently in California where I had to put up with it for a few days as ironically all the barbers were shut!” 

Jamie is the tournament director of Battle of the Brits, which takes place at the P&J Live Arena on December 21 and 22. Kyle and his five-strong team will be visiting the city’s Hilton Hotel, where both teams are staying, to take care of any pre-match grooming requirements. 

Jamie added: “Looking good and feeling good go hand in hand as it helps you be more confident – and in my case, hopefully play better.” 

He will be joined on court by brother, Sir Andy Murray along with other Scottish tennis stars including Jonny O’Mara and Cameron Norrie. The English team is made up of Joe Salisbury, Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Neal Skupski.  

Delighted barber Kyle said: “It is a really proud moment for Sovereign Grooming to be asked by Jamie to provide our services. We’re looking forward to helping the team get prepped for their upcoming matches and hope the Scotland team come out on top. 

“We may even have a few hand tips that the teams will be able to take to the court.” 

Jamie’s grooming tips for life on the road are simple: to stay on top of a hairstyle he advised finding a style that is easily suited to your routine to ensure it is maintainable.  

He added: “Lockdown was certainly an interruption to my usual grooming routine. Like many others, my wife ended up being my barber and sometimes we’d just shave it all off to make it easier to manage.  

“When we managed to get back into training it was funny to see my coach and team arriving with their untamed hair for the first time.   

“Since we couldn’t go to the barbers for such a long period of time, I now treat it like an experience and actually enjoy going whereas previously it used to be a necessity.” 

The star also explained how the tennis event is coming to Aberdeen because the players were keen to find a venue outwith the central belt. 

He said: “There’s also the fact that the P&J is a great venue. Local people normally have to travel far to see anything live, so its nice to give bring world class tennis to their doorstep.  

“The event should be good fun as it will give players the chance to represent their home nation as normally we’d play as Great Britain. Everyone, including both players and spectators, have a vested interest in how their individual country performs so it should create a bit of friendly competition.” 

Acclaimed Barber, Kyle Ross who has been garlanded with a string of industry awards, set up Sovereign Grooming in Aberdeen’s Union Street in 2016. It was an immediate hit and he has since attracted investment to open salons in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. 

He was named Best Barber UK at the International Barber Awards in 2017, a year which also saw him named Scottish Men’s Stylist of the Year. In 2018, he was named Best Barber at the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards and in 2019 was shortlisted for GQ Magazine’s Barber of the Year title, one of only a handful of stylists outside London to have been shortlisted. 

Visit the Sovereign Grooming website – https://sovereign-grooming.com/locations/edinburgh – to book an appointment with Kyle or his team. 

British men’s make-up brand, War Paint has announced that is has recently reached its funding totalin order to expand their range from men’s make-up, and forge a path into men’s skincare too.

War Paint is one of the world’s leading men’s makeup brands. Their mission is to give menthe freedom to feel confident every day. Since 2018, they’ve sold 250k+ units worldwide and opened the first-ever men’s makeup store on London’s iconic Carnaby Street.

It’s a British business success story and one that is relevant to the barbering industry, asWar Paint is an amazing addition to the barbershop retail shelves, offering clients the option of picking up their haircare and skincare essentials from their favourite male grooming experts – you, the barber.

Founder Danny Gray launched the business in 2018, and the brand has garnered great success, selling worldwide and partnering with big hitters like John Lewis, Reiss, Sephora and Virgin Airways. With its existing credibility, partnerships and distribution channels, the skincare market is the obvious next step.

For more information on the range go to: www.warpaintformen.com.

On Sunday 28th November, the global family and friends of TONI&GUY came together once again for its second global digital event-a spectacular and beautiful showcase of original inspiration watched live by over 5,000 viewers.

Showing the best in class education and celebrating artistry and skill, with the most breath-taking hair from the TONI&GUY International Artistic Team and partners from around the world. The one-hour marvel brought viewers into a world of high-fashion and creativity. Teams presented the newest brand campaigns along with British Hairdressing Award inspirations and collections, not forgetting the hugely anticipated pre-view of the label.m re-launch with brand new product lines and overall brand aesthetic. The brand’s connection to fashion around the world saw Fashion Week presentations given from major global cities and no TONI&GUY show would be complete without a spectacular avant-garde finale.

The one-hour spectacle took us on a journey around the world as teams from Australia, China, Spain, Italy and Japan presented the very best of their creative talents. Each member, took the audience through the intricacy and inspirations behind their look, proving TONI&GUY is forever at the helm of setting trends and creating beautiful hair globally. The International manner of the event, also gave the opportunity to recognise and highlight the real heroes within TONI&GUY with the TONI&GUY Global Awards. Groups from Australia, Netherlands and France were all winners, cementing the brands reputation of having some of the best over-sea teams*.

Global Brand Director and Owner, Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck opened the show and introduced the Global Digital Event, “What a great opportunity to come together and share what’s brilliant about TONI&GUY and label.m”. While acknowledging the past twelve months, she thanked all teams for their contributions to the company’s success, and highlighted the importance of being a true family with strong core values, allowing for her father, Toni’s legacy to live on.

CEO Nigel Darwin followed. Touching on the pandemic and promising to emerge from the Covid crisis a stronger business than ever before he said, “Throughout the last 18 months what is most striking is how as a global family we have grabbed this time as an opportunity to make ourselves the best we can be.” Also thanking all staff for their efforts, he described how the pandemic had affected the business and touched on the next chapter for the TONI&GUY story, including the label.m re-vamp.

Kicking off the creative sessions, Global Creative Director, Cos Sakkas and International Manager, Eamonn Boreham welcomed everyone and gave an insight into what viewers could expect over the next hour. A round-up of how the people behind the brand innovatively express their vision through campaigns, education and fashion by crafting beautiful hair.

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International Artistic Directors Daniele de Angelis and Siobhan Haug introduced the 2021 brand campaign: Immersion. Launching January 2022, the campaign offers clients the latest in hair fashion trends. A celebration of the TONI&GUY as a whole, encapsulating the core elements of its salons, brand, heritage, fashion and education. This is seen through shapes, textures and tones created by the brand’s signature, trend-led and timeless techniques that its hairdressers create in-salon, beautifully every day and can be bespoke to each client. The concept of diversity and inclusion has always been one of strong importance to TONI&GUY. Seen in Immersion, through multi-cultural models with varying hair types and textures the campaign is a celebration of individuality and offers an in-salon solution to suit any client.

This was followed by International Artistic Directors Philipp Haug and Stuart Matuska introducing the academy education and creative campaign: Co-Lab. A fusion of creative concepts and minds, from make-up artists to photographers that reflect a true representation of how everyone in the brand works as a team. Six individual BritishHairdressing Award collections by the International Artistic Team, are merged into one to inspire salon hairdressers to work collaboratively with each other on their own creative projects and journeys, spreading the ethos of a unified vision.

Global Creative Director Cos Sakkas and International Technical Education Director Jo O’Neill provided an insight into the creative inspirations behind the new label.m campaign: label.less, launching in salons January 2022. Individual beauty with a premium feel being the focus, label. less encourages unique individuality and self-expression through beautiful, shiny and healthy-looking hair. This is seen through gorgeous, natural and golden tones both in the hair and the styling throughout.

Ending with a display catapulting the audience into a world where high fashion and ethereal drama collide. No TONI&GUY show would be complete without a spectacular Avant-Garde finale, showcasing the stunning British Hairdressing Award collection by International Artistic Director, Efi Davies.

Multi-award-winning men’s hairstylist Tariq Howes will be joining forces with renowned Soho barbershop Joe and Co from January 2022. Tariq, who owns Avenue Male Grooming in Cardiff, is in high demand for his Afro men’s hairdressing skills. His own mixed heritage has inspired him to gain expertise in all hair types and textures. 

Tariq will join the Joe and Co team as Art Director, alongside Charlie Cullen, spending time in the Soho barbershop, working with the team to increase their already enviable skills with textured hair, while continuing to run his own barbershop in Wales. 

Tariq’s accolades include Men’s Afro Stylist of the Year and Men’s Hairdressing Federation/City and Guilds Afro Barber of the Year. He is a well-known fixture on the industry’s major live stages, sharing his skills at events across the UK. He has also worked on photo shoots for high-end magazines such as GQ Style and his diverse skills have also gained him work backstage at London Fashion Week for brands such as A-Cold-Wall, Daniel Fletcher and Per Götesson. 

Session stylist and Joe and co-owner, Joe Mills said: “With his incredible background working with Afro and textured hair, Tariq will prove a major asset to Joe and Co. Tariq will work with the team to ensure they are all 100% confident working with all hair types, as well as spending a few days a month in the salon looking after a small selection of clients. I’m also looking forward to working with Tariq on a number of projects in 2022 — more will be revealed soon!”  

Tariq added: “I’ve admired Joe for many years, and I am excited to have the opportunity to work alongside him, Charlie and the team.”