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The Hair Business, Cowbridge has built a reputation for excellence. Vale Life talked with owner Leigharne Phillips about how the business has grown and what drives her to make it such a success.
THE HAIR BUSINESS
Can you tell us about your career?
I trained mostly in Cardiff and then spent the first part of my career in London with Steiner who own Elemis and operates salons on many cruise liners. I then went to Bermuda for a year and on my return to Cardiff, I re-joined Gingers and in 1992 I set up The Hair Business.
Why did you choose Cowbridge?
A well informed friend suggested Cowbridge as the best location for the future, and they were right!
What are your specialities?
Our core hairdressing, beauty and nail skills provide a wide range of options to all our clients. Also, our people values. It’s so important that our clients feel special as they are important members of our ‘family’. At the Hair Business, we truly believe in the client’s ‘experience’, and we want to make it the very best they’ve ever had.
Where do your clients come from?
90% come by recommendation. We have clients from all over Wales and the UK. We even have clients from Dubai, Greece and Italy. Honestly it’s amazing!
Tell us about your products
We use Aveda which are 97% naturally derived products from sustain able sources. We love the concept and the fact that you can get products ranging from candles to shampoo and make up. We also stock Redken as the science and history behind this brand is outstanding and it continues to be innovative with new solutions to hair and scalp problems. We are proud to say we invest in the finest products.
You focus very much on the quality of training for your staff...
I’ve always believed in what you put in, you get back, by respecting others and allowing them to grow. Standards are vitally important to the Hair Business. Our brand emerges from our team who are the foundation of our success. During the last year we have taken part in 73 days of training with industry experts, and are constantly looking at ways in which we can further enhance our skills in customer relations.
Tell us about your staff...
The team are the making of our brand and thankfully I have found wonderful people... from assistants to stylists, from salon co-ordinators to nail technicians and beauty therapists. Russell, who is behind the scenes has worked on the financial side of the business for fifteen years. Catherine is Operations Manager and Claire, my sister, is Salon Manager. George, Emma and Hayley have been with me for over nine years and all decisions are shared with them. The team’s core values are important... good manners and great attitude. The hair dressing and beauty side follow the same ethics. All but one of our stylists have trained here, I’m proud to say as clients can have more choice and to enable this process, we operate a ‘free roam salon’. We work on a tier system to provide our hair services, with prices to suit all. Sophie, as Senior Salon Coordinator, operates front of house and retail supported by Anna and Kate on reception. We offer training sessions on Mondays to develop our assistant trainees. Sessions are open to clients who would like to offer themselves as models to help our trainees.
You are involved in a lot of charity work. Which charities are you involved with and why?
The Hair Business are proud to be able to donate their time and efforts along with donations to numerous charities and are often involved in local charity events such as, The Eve Appeal, George-Thomas Hospice, Ty Hafan and local schools. We have sponsored a child through Plan International and I personally sponsor Eric through the same organisation. When you can see the difference you can make to a child’s life, you want to do more. We have sponsored four more since Eric. Recently, we have donated to a charity event to raise money for a little girl in need of an operation in Nepal… my great Grandpa was from Nepal.
What services are offered at The Hair Business?
Over the seventeen years of the salon’s life, our services have been developed to their current high standards through dedication and on-going training to keep us at the forefront of the industry. We offer haircutting services for men and women, Great Lengths hair extensions, colour specialists, Creative nail care and beauty treatments and, most recently, we have complemented our male grooming with the traditional wet shave. A few members of the team attended training with one of the UK’s award winning specialists in the male grooming arena and this autumn will see the launch of this service to complete the full male grooming experience for our clients.
Are there any exciting new developments at the salon?
This Autumn will see the launch of our new service ‘My New Hair’. I personally attended a training session with Trevor Sorbie on customising wigs. I found the course very rewarding and I am really excited to be launching this service to our customers as I feel it is a very personal thing to be able to give my skills and knowledge in order to help people who have had their world turned upside down by cancer. Being told you have cancer must be one of the most devastating things you can hear and we are here to support clients when they are going through this difficult time. We will customise wigs in the comfort of a private room on a complimentary basis.
We have many thank you’s to send out to all those that were involved in this photoshoot. A thank you to Liz, Paula and Lisa at Vibe Models for their efforts in helping us by supplying great models. To all the models that showed professionalism and dedication: Rachel Bond, Chloe-Beth Morgan (Miss Wales), Lydia Whnell, Andrew Leather, Catherine Pope, Ella Hill, Lane Allan and Stacey Ranson. A big thank you to Andy at Hamptons of Penarth for setting the scene, Esther Hitchcock of Jon Ian’s for supplying the footwear and Martin Phillips Photography for the great photography and creative ideas for the scene.
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