The Gavin Alexander Salon in Porthcawl has built a reputation for excellence. Vale Life talked with Sandra Alexander about the family business, how it has grown and what makes the Gavin Alexander ethos so special.
SALON EXPERIENCE
Sandra, the family already had a thriving, successful business in Cardiff Bay, why did you choose Porthcawl as part of the expansion? We have always loved this area, which is why we retired from our Hereford city salons to move back to Wales. My parents and grandparents lived here, so it holds fond memories for me of my childhood. We also felt that the local clientele would love our unique salon environment and appreciate our attentive team of stylists. The salon also has lovely views overlooking Griffin Park. Who could ask for more?
The name Gavin Alexander is synonymous with quality hairdressing. Why do you think that is so?
We have run successful salons over the past 44 years in Abergavenny and Crickhowell then Hereford for 23 years and at Queen’s Arcade, Cardiff and finally our unique salon location in Cardiff Bay. Our son Gavin now heads up the Cardiff Bay salon while Colin and I are based at Porthcawl.
What makes a good hairdresser?
A ‘good cut’ created specifically for each client’s hair type is the basis of all successful hairdressing services in our salons today. It is pointless creating a style that cannot be managed at home by the client between visits to the salon, hence we believe in training all of our staff to recommend a home care range from our L’Oréal Professional products to help them maintain the look themselves. Our mission statement is ‘Our stylists create styles to suit, you, your personality and lifestyle’. To quote Colin, “I think we all forget that our hair is the hat you cannot take off!”
So the focus is definitely on training and customer care?
Absolutely, our team reflect our brand and we ensure that they get support and training in all aspects of customer care as well as the latest hair styling techniques. From first greeting the client, offering them refreshments, how they interact when shampooing, cutting and styling the hair, to when they walk out of the door, these values are vitally important to us. First and foremost, we want our clients to enjoy the experience of visiting a Gavin Alexander salon and look forward, with confidence, to their next appointment.
Colin will be working in the Porthcawl salon on Thursdays and Fridays. Why is this?
By request! As he has been in the business a long time, clients tend to follow him around, as they do with Gavin. Colin has a wealth of experience in all aspects of hairdressing. He is particularly well known for having the ability to create that extra movement in the hair with the introduction of a ‘soft body wave’, which not many hairdressers can achieve these days.
He has worked with many of the top hairdressing manufacturers in the country and has assisted with photoshoots and training seminars in London. During these years he has worked with many celebrity clients, the most quirky of these probably being an ex lady prime minister! He prefers to leave the colouring to the colour artists in his team who work with him.
The salon has a great reputation. Does that mean that it’s expensive?
Absolutely not! We work on a tier pricing system. For instance, a cut and blow dry will start at £20 to £26 for a stylist, carrying through to £42 to £46 for a cut and style with one of our directors.
Colouring will be personalized to the client’s needs as to what he or she wants to achieve and is discussed in full before a price is given. We believe we offer real value for money to our clients and that in this current economic climate, a trip to Gavin Alexander Salon needn’t break the bank. We also have incentives to help, including our unique Loyalty Card Programme and 15% discount on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Has the credit crunch affected you?
Understandably, some clients are waiting longer in between appointments, particularly for colour but we believe with our pricing structure, this needn’t be the case. Unfortunately, we do see some clients falling foul of the home colouring kits and their complicated colouring systems which invariably cost a client far more to correct when things go wrong.
Tell us more about your team.
I will be spending much of my time at the Porthcawl salon to assist with background management. I feel it’s important that our clients know that I am here if required. Rachelle Simmonds is our Style Director and Salon Manager. Rachelle is very experienced and we have every confidence in her abilities to manage the salon. Her team includes senior stylist Abbie Spencer Harty, stylists, Charlotte Lewis and Danielle Curling, graduate stylists, Rebecca Hearly and Zoe Davies and Laurie Richards, our trainee stylist. As we expand we intend to employ a further three stylists in the near future.
So, the future looks bright…
By the time this issue comes out we will have celebrated our first birthday at Porthcawl. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. It feels like only yesterday we were deciding on the décor and furnishings and opening our doors to the public. Luckily the excitement is still alive and kicking!
We’re also excited that Gavin is back in the Cardiff Bay salon after a brief interlude. He missed the buzz of the Bay and his clients missed him dreadfully. He’s definitely glad to be back. We’re also launching the bar adjacent to the Cardiff Bay salon and will be offering this as a venue for private parties and corporate events. It’s been beautifully designed and, of course, the location overlooking the Bay is second to none. We’ve a busy time ahead!
