James started his career aged 13, working at Headquarters in Kenilworth on Saturday’s as a helper. He went on to complete school and his G.C.S.E,s. When he left school he started working at Headquarters in Kenilworth full time until he started his hairdressing course day release at college for the next eighteen months. At the same time he was very fortunate to receive in salon training from very experienced stylists , one of which was a hairdressing instructor, the other, his boss Pete Eyden who had up to 40 years experience and had owned the salon for 36 years and just to add to that, was a traditional London barber who was amazing with a cut throat razor, along with 10 other staff who worked there, who all chipped in to help with training, and all of which were up to a very high hairdressing standard.
James started working as a barber in the salon a year before he finished his college course due to the fact that he had taken to it so well and picked it up so very easily, his boss could spot his natural talent.
James finished his course and went on to another training course in The Excellence of Male Hair Styling. He progressed very well with that and started building his own clientele in the salon. Four or five years after that his old boss Pete Eyden sold the business and two years after that retired. James was then made Salon Manager. When Pete Eyden retired he handed his entire 40 years worth of clientele over to James, keeping him extremely busy, and of course very thank full to Pete.
James continued to build on his client list until suffering an accident on his push bike and fracturing his skull. He was off work for a very long time and lost contact with a lot of his customers. When James was finally well enough to go back to work he only made it through 3 days before he left. He just felt that he was not happy there anymore and all the time off had given him time to realise that.
James then went on to work at a new salon in Kenilworth called the Hair Gallery. Unfortunately when he left Headquarters he had lost contact numbers and addresses for a lot of his clients. James managed to get the word out that he was working at the Hair Gallery and once again he started to rebuild his clientele.
Just as James was almost back to his normal busy self the salon hit a big problem. The owners of the salon had a marriage break up, which resulted in the rent for the shop not being paid, which ended in the landlady taking the property back but not giving the staff time to remove their property from the salon. They then all had to fight the landlady to get their property out which took over six month costing solicitors fees and a massive loss of clients. James had all his hairdressing equipment, jacket, mobile phone, and entire client contacts list locked in the shop and so was unable to contact his clients and inform them of what was going on. And of course was unable to get a job in hairdressing without any equipment.
Financial times became hard so he started to work nights in the City Link factory in Coventry giving him time in the day to write letters and try everything to get his equipment back. James didn’t get on very well with the world of factory life and only worked there for a very short time, his heart was still in hairdressing. Eventually James had no choice but to start signing on for Jobseekers Allowance. Then finally James had a call from the landlady of the Hair Gallery advising that he could at last get his property from the shop. This cheered James up and gave him the opportunity to start thinking about getting a job.
Things though again took a turn for the worse and his Nan, who was very fit and healthy unexpectedly died. A while after that, James went for an interview at Renascences in Leamington, he passed with flying colours and started two days later. He soon found out that the shop had recently moved and was experiencing some teething and staffing problems. James didn’t settle and only worked there for two days.
James then decided to inform as many of his clients as he could, that he had got his equipment back and he was looking for a salon in which to work, but in the mean time he would do home visits. He advised the job centre that he was thinking of doing this and they then put him in touch with a business manager from the Birmingham chambers called Rob Botterill. Rob helped James draw up a business plan to assist him in setting up as a self employed mobile hairdresser. Rob agreed that James’ business plan was a good one and also that there was no other barber in Warwickshire offering this service.
Due to James not having really worked in almost a year he was really short of cash and didn’t have the backing to set up a new business. Rob helped James get in touch with the Princes Trust and to apply for a loan to help fund the set up costs of starting a new business. James submitted his business plan and had a call asking him to go into the Princes Trusts local office in Coventry for a meeting to discuss his business plan and what he planned for the future of his new business. James got the grant for the loan.
Unfortunately another family illness struck when his dad suffered a massive brain aneurysm, spending a month in critical care. His dad is still very sick and has a long way to go but is on the mend and he is in very good care at a very good hospital.
James is now trying to rebuild on his client list and get new customers and really try to push the business on with various marketing strategies. So if there is any men out there in need of a haircut and want to save the hassle and cost of going into town paying for parking and queuing in a hairdressers, and would rather just stay in the comfort of your home and have the hairdresser come to you then it’s easy just give James a call or even a text message and tell him when u would like a haircut and he will fit you in at the closest time to suit you and what makes it even more convenient is that James works late most nights so can fit in with most people’s nine to five day.