A Nottinghamshire hair salon is celebrating 40 years in business and says 'investing in people' is one of the secrets to its success. The Arena Hair Salon offers everything from cuts to colour which has helped it to stay a cut above the competition over the years.
Head Stylist Martin Leach started the salon in 1982 after he returned to Nottingham after working as a hairdresser in London. He called the salon, Peach before a name change and it relocated to its current location in a historic Victorian schoolhouse on Duke Street.
"I opened a small shop in December 1982 which was originally called Peach Salon and I carried on there for about four years. As it got busier over time, I thought it was time to change the name and in those days, it mattered that it was alphabetical so we called it Arena," Martin explained.
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"We carried on investing and training people. I had two girls, Sarah and Amy who stayed with me for 14 years to build the business. I needed a new shop but I didn't want a high street shop that was just like a normal store as I wanted something more exciting.
Luckily, the perfect building came up for sale just in time for Martin's plans to expand the business. The historic schoolhouse has a lot of character and was thankfully saved from demolition by Martin's involvement.
"An abandoned schoolhouse came on for sale which was due to be knocked down but I saved it from demolition. It's an old Victorian schoolhouse on Duke Street. It's quite important from a historical point of view. So I converted a derelict building into a salon around eighteen years ago in May 2005."
Martin is supported by his daughter Alex Rook who has taken over the day-to-day running of the business. Alex has been working in the salon and supporting her father in the business since she was eleven. The beauty salon offers many different services from waxing to lashes to nails and spray tans.
"My daughter runs the salon now and she's the one who decided to open a beauty salon upstairs. So we have the hair salon downstairs and then the beauty salon upstairs. We have about sixteen members of staff in total," Martin explained.
When it comes to proud moments with the business, reaching the milestone of 40 years has been incredible.
"I'm proud that I've been working hard for forty years although it doesn't sink in until you have a milestone. I really feel proud today but it's been so normal for the last forty years. Although moving to the schoolhouse too was another incredible moment," he shared.
"I'm proud of the recognition I get from the local community for being established. I've been involved with the council here working on the development of the town in a non-political position too."
When it comes to welcoming back old trends, Martin has seen the return of an 80s classic although it has been updated with a modern twist. He is pleased to see people taking risks and being creative with their hair again.
"I'm seeing a lot of mullets coming back, especially on young people and students. It's one thing I like to supervise when they are being done because I remember doing them the first time round," he explained.
"The young people call it a 'wolf cut' now. It's bringing back identity in hair. These new haircuts coming back into style are bringing back a bit of individualism again because people don't want to look like anyone else. You have a lot of flexibility with these new cuts and they are fun to do because they are artistic and not boring."
The business has been booming since lockdown as people are travelling out of Nottingham to get their haircut. The salon is undergoing an extension at the moment with a view to increasing space and making facilities more accessible.
"Since lockdown, we've got even busier because we've seen an increase in people who would normally go to the city coming to use instead to avoid Nottingham. We are actually extending the salon at the minute and the main reason is to make it wheelchair accessible."
He added: "People in wheelchairs struggle to have their hair washed or coloured so we are having a sink installed. There is a big market there but they have always had to put up with dry cuts and no colours. We have disabled customers coming now but we don't have proper access as this is such an old building so this will enable that."
One of the lasting issues of lockdown is that it could leave a shortage in the amount of trained and skilled hairdressers Martin predicts. Most salons were unable to train people over the years that lockdown was in place leaving an almost two-year gap. He says that attitudes towards hairdressing as a career is changing.
"Years ago, people thought hairdressing wasn't a proper job so we lost high-calibre people who thought it was a dead-end job. We had a bit of a recruitment crisis 10 years ago but now we have some really exciting young people because it's now seen as a good job with money. We've always invested in people so we get that paid back to us. "
He added: "One difficulty I can see is that because no one was taken on during Covid, there is going to be a shortage of hairdressers. There were no apprentices taken on for two years and hardly any this year so in five years' time, that is going to trickle down. That's why I've always trained people for future continuity."
When it comes to the future, Martin is proud that the next generation of the family, his daughter, is working alongside him. He loves his job and plans to stay on for another five years.
"My daughter runs the shop now and she's just had a baby. She has supported me since she was eleven years old so I can't see myself retiring for another five years so I can help her look after them. I'll keep working two or three days a week into my seventies as it's such a lovely job. Every day is different and no day has been the same for forty years."
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