The doors to your barbershop are always swinging open and you know the true meaning of a lack of time. When you have customers waiting in line for the perfect fade or beard trim, you don’t have the time to check your stock levels, summarize cash reports and look into employee activity. And definitely no time to promote your clean cuts, warm towel treatments, or build lasting relations with your customers.

Make these boring tasks automatic with the latest tech made just for you.

See what benefits an easy to use and well-developed barbershop software can bring into your barbershop.

The Barber’s rule – clients are family!

Your customers are more friends than just meal tickets. They come in not only for your great services, but because they enjoy being treated as mates in your barbershop. And when your shop is full of clients waiting for your services, you check their appointment history and the most recent before-and-after pictures in individual electronic records. Keep tabs on your customers’ needs – offer great styles based on previous ones they’ve had, having them leave your barbershop pleased and looking fresh.

Like most days, you’re busy tending to customers or cleaning clippers and you don’t have enough time to spend on the communication aspects of your barbershop. But the right barbershop management system can take the load off your hands. Send automatic appointment reminders or quick thank you messages to clients that came in for a service. When you’re low on time, this system will help you stay in touch with your customers.

Let your clients do the talking

There’s no one better than your customers when it comes to promoting your brand. They are your ambassadors, and they recommend your services, no charge. So let their voices be heard and help them reach out to others. Your barbershop is in good hands – your system will automatically send an email to customers, asking for feedback on a service they’ve just had. Share your latest positive feedback on Twitter and Facebook and show what customers think about your barbershop. Post pictures of your most recent fades and beard trims onto your social media feeds and show off your excellent services.

No mess behind the counter

When you’re rushing from one chair to the next and your razors are getting dull, nothing is more important than time. Checking out appointments, noting services provided, products sold and adding pictures onto the customer record – everything needs to be done lightning fast and problems should be avoided. That’s why a reliable system should be in charge of all of the behind-the-scenes activities, such as calculating daily revenue and tracking employee sales, provided services and sold products. Everything you need is fast and easy to check, verify, and correct at the end of the day, all under one roof.

Versum is ideal for your barbershop, allowing for fast and easy calculations, effective marketing campaigns, automatic communication, organized customer feedback, an elaborate loyalty program, well-developed inventory management, as well as reports and statistics.

This virtual employee is essential for the modern-day barber.

See what Versum has to offer you: www.versum.com

A talented barbering student had two reasons to celebrate last week after he won a silver medal at the recent Association of Hairdressers and Therapists (AHT) National Finals 2017 and then found out he’d been given a promotion at work the following day.

Level 3 barbering student Craig Harmen, 24, from Hartlepool, who studies at East Durham College in Peterlee, picked up the silver award in the Men’s Barbering Cut & Finish category, which saw him compete against more than 50 other student barbers from other colleges across the UK.

East Durham College’s hair and beauty department have returned from the Association of Hairdressers and Therapists (AHT) Awards 2016 in Blackpool with three top places.

Level 3 barbering student Lewis Coils, 20, from Wingate picked up first place in the Men’s Creative Designs in Hair, with another East Durham College barbering student Penny Brown, 33, from Thornley, finishing second in the same category.

Georgia Leadbetter, 23, from Seaham who also studies on the level 3 course at the college, took third place in the Men’s Commercial Category.

The competition took place at the iconic Blackpool Winter Gardens with the students competing against competitors from across the United Kingdom.

East Durham College barbering lecturer, Alison Scattergood, has praised her students for their fantastic achievements in the competition.

Alison said: “These three students have performed to a fantastic standard, it’s a tough competition to come and compete at as you are up against the best students from around the UK.

“For Penny and Georgia to get a top three place is absolutely brilliant, and Lewis achievement to go on and win his category is a really proud moment both for him as a student and me as his lecturer.

“I’m sure these three student will go on to have a great career in the barbering industry.”

For more information on courses in hair, beauty and barbering at East Durham College contact our student services team on 0191 518 8222.

Eleven talented barbers are celebrating this morning after being named as regional winners of Britain’s Best Shave 2017.

The top seven scoring regional winners along with Sadik Khalifa (last year’s champion) will now come face to face in a nail-biting shave-off at the national final inside the iconic boxing ring at this year’s Barber UK.

Finalists will battle it out to impress judges on a range of criteria – including preparation, razor technique and post-shave routine, making a final bid for the crown – and the prestigious overall title of Britain’s Best Wet Shaving Barber for 2017.

The final of the competition, organised by the esteemed British Barbers’ Association and premium men’s grooming brand The Bluebeards Revenge, will take place at the popular Barber UK trade show at the Birmingham NEC on Sunday May 21st. Scores of spectators are expected to turn out for the final, which is widely considered to be the world’s leading barber competition.

This year’s Britain’s Best Shave winner will walk away with £500 worth of The Bluebeards Revenge grooming products and merchandise, and a chance to work with the brand – as well as the much-coveted title of Britain’s Best Wet Shaving Barber. They will also take part in a special interview with Barber Evo magazine.

The Bluebeards Revenge and the British Barbers’ Association would like to thank the expert judges Mike Taylor and Gareth Clark, as well as Salon Services and Envy Barbers for hosting the regional heats.

The draw for the national final will take place over the coming days.

The regional winners of Britain’s Best Shave 2017 are:

Scotland
Rachel Casson (The Italian Job)

Wales
Sophie Collins (Sophs barbershop)

North West
Philip Christodoulides (Burgundi Men’s Grooming)

South West
Mario Parrinello (The Filton Barbers)

North East
Alan Stone (Stoneys Barbershop)

East of England
Yucel Olmezkaya (Gould Barbers – Tesco Hardwick Kings Lynn)

East Midlands
Andy Lakin (Magnolia Barbering)

West Midlands
Bulent Dogan (Ankara Hair)

South East
Elvis Gjokaj (Alley Barbers)

London
Dan Gregory (Man Made)

Northern Ireland
Gem Gul (Mulholland Barbering)

The seven highest scoring regional winners are the following (in no particular order). They will be invited to attend the national final along with last year’s winner Sadik Khalifa.

Sophie Collins
Gem Gul
Dan Gregory
Bulent Dogan
Elvis Gjokaj
Yucel Olmezkaya
Philip Christodoulides

MASTER BARBER LIVE IS BACK – SEPTEMBER 10TH 2017

10am – 6pm

The British Master Barbers has reached its third annual barbering show Master Barber LIVE 2017.

This show is dedicated to inspiring our own members along with barbers, Students and interests throughout in the industry. Master Barber Live provides a platform for live demonstrations, trade stands, competition, networking and continued education. New to MBLive 2017 we will be holding a full american style barber battle allowing barbers from all around the UK to showcase their skills and compete for the official UK Barber Battle trophies.

This event will be held on Sunday the 10th September at the Arora Hotel Crawley near Gatwick a modern venue will plenty of facilities for show goers. The doors open to the public at 10am and will continue on until around 6.00pm.

After the show there are 2 bars a restaurant and a pub located in the hotel for further networking and barber talk.

MASTER BARBER LIVE 2017 FEATURES

THE MAIN STAGE

We will showcase some of the most inspiring and talented barbers from around the UK on our live main stage. Mods Vs Rockers will be one of the main themes demonstrated live by the Mod Father Sam Arthur and King of the DA Phil Jarman displaying the most prominent subcultures that inspired British fashion.

SEMINAR ROOMS

Along with our main stage there will be two separate seminar rooms dedicated to

education. We are currently looking for room sponsors to provide education and exhibit their products.

UK BARBER BATTLE

The MBLive show will be hosting the third UK Barber Battle featuring a new format allowing up to 40 barbers to battle live head to head against each other in a freestyle impact category.

TRADE STANDS

The Mblive show has trade stands featuring some of the most innovative products and equipment to help your barbershop build revenue and experience the latest tools and supplies on the market.

For more details visit masterbarberlive.com

This July Hard Grind presents Barbersride 2017!

It’s 4 days of riding from Scotland down to London.

There will be 5 barbering seminars along the way, where you can learn from leading UK barbers.

Most importantly, it’s all in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity!

Sign up today and get involved at: www.barbersride.com

BarberEvo Magazine is proud to be a media partner of Barbersride 2017.

Just when you thought you had to turn up at college every day to learn how to be a supercool hipster barber, the BarberPortal arrives. A brand new and ground breaking ‘in the room” fully immersive and interactive education program where virtual reality expertise will make you feel like you are in class. All for as little as 99p!

Tom Chapman, owner of Tom Chapman Hair Design has teamed up with Nick Peres a Virtual Reality (VR) wizard who develops training courses for the NHS.

They met whilst Tom was doing an interview for HiblioTV about The Lions Barber Collective, an international collection of top barbers which have come together to help raise awareness for the prevention of suicide. They got chatting and he told Tom that he filmed in VR.

VR was something Tom had thought about doing for a while and figured they could do some kind of virtual reality barber training program. Then the idea has grown and BOOM they are just about to launch the first phase of the BarberPortal.

They will be using the latest filming techniques to capture both 180 and 360 3D virtual reality footage of Interviews with industry greats like British Master Barbers, Kieron the Barber, Conor Taafe and Baldy. There will also be education, events, set by steps, tools and products, photoshoots, behind the scenes, travel etc.

They will be using drones to shoot location footage and all for free. By the end of the year they will have a ground breaking “in the room” fully immersive and interactive education program where you will be able to switch from point of view to being in the room looking over the barbers shoulder. All you need to watch in VR is a VR cardboard viewer which you can pick up online for as little as 99p and a smart phone.

Tom told us “I am hugely involved in education and training, I have my own classes as well as being an ambassador for Exeter College hair department and sitting on the industry board for city and guilds.

“BarberPortal will be a way to bring education to people in a more interactive and immersive way than ever before. There are a lot of training videos out there, some of which I have done myself, however, I wanted to take things to the next level and VR is definitely the future of education”

“BarberPortal isn’t just about education though, since the initial idea it has developed into a complete portal into the barbering world. I receive emails and messages all the time from people asking about barbering, how they can become a barber and what’s it like to be a barber and BarberPortal will give people an idea.

For all the subscribers to our BarberPortal YouTube we have and will continue to feature education, products, interviews, events, barbershops, point of view, drone work and plenty more!”

Although Tom and Nick have just started their journey but they have already been to Canada, to Mark Peyton’s Sailor Bups Barbershop and the Great British Barber Bash event in London just to mention a couple. Personally Tom would love to get a 360 tour of the Schorem Barbershop in Rotterdam and interview some of the guys there. They also aim to get to most of the big events like Barber Connect and Barber UK this year so they can give you an immersive view from the stage and interview some of the best in the business!”

They don’t have any sponsors or partners as yet (if you are offering) but they have had some exciting conversations going on with industry media partners and brand leaders. Get in touch and get involved by contacting BarberPortal on thebarberportal@gmail.com

British barber celebrated by Prime Minister with ‘Points of Light’ Award after raising awareness of men’s mental health

An inspirational barber who set up his own men’s mental health awareness and suicide prevention movement has been awarded a ‘Point of Light’ Award by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Tom Chapman’s Lions Barber Collective is turning barbershops into safe spaces for men using the opportunity of a regular haircut to start conversations about mental health. The group is having an enormous impact with men who traditional mental health services can struggle to reach.

Tom organises a professionally run training programme, which is teaching barbers to ‘recognise, talk, listen and advise’ clients and works with the suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS – signposting the services they offer to clients in need.

In recognition of the impact the group is making, Tom was chosen for a ‘Points of Light’ Award, which recognises outstanding individual volunteers, who are making a change in their community.

In a personal letter written to Tom, Prime Minister May wrote: “The Lions Barber Collective is a brilliantly innovative initiative creating safe, non-judgemental spaces for men to open up about their mental health. By equipping barbers with the skills to have these conversations you are supporting them to use the trusted relationships they have with many of their clients to make a real difference.”

Tom was delighted that his hard work had been officially recognised and hoped the publicity surrounding the award would help to drive greater awareness of mental health and suicide prevention in men.

He said: “I am truly taken back by this honour; never did I expect The Lions Barber Collective to be as successful as it has become, nor get this level of recognition. A personal endorsement from the Prime Minister will no doubt help us to move forward, complete more work and raise more awareness than ever before. I cannot thank you enough for this award; I am moved, shocked and honoured. My late Grandad would have been especially proud.”

Recent research suggests that barbers are in a very unique position to help men in their battle with depression. A survey commissioned by the Lions Barber Collective and The Bluebeards Revenge male grooming brand revealed that more than half of the men in Britain now feel more comfortable discussing sensitive mental health issues such as depression with their barbers/hairdressers than their doctors.

The Lions Barber Collective are teaming up with The Bluebeards Revenge to help raise the awareness of men’s mental health and encourage men to “man up and talk”. The Bluebeards Revenge will soon be rolling out an on-pack awareness campaign, as well as launching a co-branded product with all proceedings going to the charity’s great cause.

David Hildrew, Managing Director of The Bluebeards Revenge and an ex-Royal Marine Commando, added: “It’s very encouraging to see that barbers all over Britain are presenting a suitable pillar for men to lean on. As an ex-serviceman, I take male depression very seriously. It’s an illness that many military men suffer with in silence. The Lions Barber Collective charity is the perfect way to break down the barriers that men tend to build themselves and together we hope to help educate barbers around the world and encourage men to man up and talk about their problems.”

The American Crew All Star Challenge annual competition recognizes the best men’s stylists in the world. In addition to honouring stylists across the globe, the All-Star Challenge charges professionals with a passion for men’s grooming to create artistic, styles that express the true vision of the American Crew man.

To enter stylists & barbers had to cut and style a male model with American Crew products and take two black and white pictures of the model from chest-level and above (one face-on, one profile) in front of a blank background, with no props visible.

The UK and Ireland Winners have been announced.

Adam Mir of the Taylor Taylor Barbershop was the 2017 UK Winner.

Ciaran O’Sullivan of Wayne Lloyd Hair was the 2017 Ireland Winner.

Both will now go forward to the All-Star Challenge Final where they will compete with 13 other finalists in Brussels in May 2017. The Global winner receives the coveted title and a $10,000 cash prize.

Ruffians, one the UK’s most influential barber shops, has appointed Denis Robinson as its Artistic Director. With over 35 years of industry experience, Robinson will be driving the creativity and talent of the Ruffians team to new heights in the men’s hair industry.

Having opened two Central London locations in 2016, Ruffians’ focus for the upcoming year is to be at the forefront of creativity, trend-setting and ingenuity in men’s hair. Gone are the days where women’s styles and fashion dominated: 2017 is the year of men’s hair, and with Robinson’s vision and experience, Ruffians aims to lead the artistic and commercial trends in the industry.

Andrew Cannon, CEO of Ruffians said of the appointment “We are delighted to have Denis heading up our Artistic Team and creative vision. Men’s hairdressing has come on leaps and bounds over the past 4-5 years, our desire is for Ruffians to continue as the driving force. With our art team in demand on a weekly basis for consumer titles like Shortlist, Men’s Health etc., and an increasing diary of showcases and seminars, now is the perfect time to invest in our future and artistic credentials.”.

Robinson trained in Ireland and honed his craft alongside the former British Hairdresser of the Year Charles Worthington MBE. An educator of the Senior Team at Charles Worthington, he then headed up their Artistic Division, before moving over to the London Hair Academy; there, he educated and guided dozens of pupils towards industry success.

Having noticed a large increase in the creative potential of the men’s hair industry, Robinson joined the Ruffians team in January 2016. Robinson says: “From the day I started at Ruffians I was blown away by the talent pool within the team, and by the sheer passion and enthusiasm in the air. I am incredibly humbled and excited to be asked to guide that talent.”

“In just over a year the company has doubled in size, and this has cultivated an atmosphere of development and growth which is bursting with ideas. As a young brand, we have had barbers and hairdressers join us from so many backgrounds and disciplines. Now it’s time to hone, refine and improve what we’ve got, and develop Ruffians into a stronger brand that is recognised in the industry for its finesse and creativity, as well as for the very successful business model that Andrew has created for customers”.

For press enquires and additional imagery please contact Adam Bodini adam.bodini@ruffians.co.uk or Denis Robinson is contactable by email on denis.robinson@ruffians.co.uk or via Ruffians Covent Garden on 020 7240 8180.

Artisan Leather Aprons for Barbers.

Handcrafted in the UK.

Your Apron for a Lifetime!

Are you looking to give your business an edge over your competitors?

Here’s an opportunity I’m convinced your customers will appreciate.

It’s a range of hand-crafted multi-purpose Leather aprons unlike any others you will have seen.

Stylish, comfortable and ready for action!

We carefully select the hides to ensure your apron looks good, year after year of wear.

Weighing just 700 grams they’re also light and flexible, and finished with a coating which makes them suitable for daily use.

As you are probably new to this product, we’ve put down some key benefits of owning one of our aprons, which are sure to make you consider investing in our durable leather aprons:

•    This is a short term investment that will save you serious money in the longterm

•    This is a onetime purchase that will last a lifetime

•    Just one apron per staff member

•    Protective coating against stains

•    Easy to clean with a damp cloth

•    No washing costs

•    Very flexible ensuring it is comfortable to wear

•    Standard apron weighs just 700 gr

•    Looks better wear after wear

•    The leather will mould to the shape of your body

www.artisan-aprons.co.uk