All about the boss!
Mel has owned 77 The Hill for 28 years. His experience and knowledge on hair knows no bounds. He has achieved so much over the years – and established the salon as one of the longest lasting in Enfield.
Opening in 1990, during a recession, the business went from strength to strength and after a re-fit a couple of years ago, continues to successfully grow. Many of the staff have been there for years and most over 10 years.
There is no magic formula for this achievement, but Mel has made sure his staff are continuously trained in the latest trends. Colour work has been the main stay of the salon but ultimately, cutting is Mel’s passion.
Some of his achievements include attending styling sessions for video shoots, having his own styling work on display from photoshoots, judging competitions at Hertford regional College and teaching seminars.
His work has been in many hair magazines over the years and he has always tried to transfer his skills onto the team. Mel believes that most people could, with practice, do a basic hair cut – however, for him, it has always been about personalisation and that isn’t always as easy to teach!
People that have influenced him throughout his career, are Vidal Sassoon, Anthony Mascolo and in his own words: “my team”.
I asked Mel, what special formula does he possess and why he thinks his staff are so loyal:
“With so much competition, you have to keep evolving and moving forward to keep up. Hairdressing is going through a revolution with social media, where everything has become so instant. Everyone has more choice of where to go and how much they pay but I strongly believe, experience goes a long way in deciding who people choose to do their hair. We strive not to become complacent and there’s nowhere to hide because people can say literally anything about your business and the old saying, you’re only as good as the last hairstyle that left the salon, has never been truer.
I still love cutting hair and making my loyal clients feel good. The younger generation are more interested in transient styles and fashion but my clientele are very much into having beautiful, timeless haircuts that are easy to manage but still look good and stylish.
I am very happy with having loyal staff and overjoyed that they choose to stay at 77 The Hill. We are like a family as we spend so much time together and I try to look after them and accommodate their needs where possible. I have invested in them by continual training and we have regular one to ones and annual appraisals. This gives staff the chance to air their views away from the team and if there are any underlying problems that could turn a minor incident into a huge mountain, we can try our best to deal with it quickly, before it escalates.
I hope things continue the way they have for the next few years and I will be at the forefront of anything we can develop business wise”
We are showing some of Mel’s haircuts here – all of which are un-photo shopped, using images of real, paying clients.
The images of the lovely Rhiannon, show Mel cutting her hair from long to short after which she donated her pony tail to Cancer Research. Fabulous!
