THE boss of a successful hairdressing chain is growing the business by opening his latest salon in a Hyde shopping centre and creating six new jobs.
Michael Rowland already has a crop of 19 Top Cut salons across the North West and Yorkshire and says he is proud to be opening branch number 20 at Clarendon Square.
Michael, who is originally from Liverpool, explained that he started Top Cut from humble beginnings just three years ago and its record of ‘quality work and excellent service’, has swiftly made it a force to be reckoned with in the business.
He said: “I’ve been in hairdressing all my life. I opened my first salon in Warrington in the early 1980s and things have just developed from there.
“After having my own business for a while I worked over in Germany for eight years. Based in Osnabruch, my job was to go into department stores helping them to set up their own hairdressing salons.
“I came back to work in England and then three years ago started Top Cut. We bought a small salon chain which was under performing, turned it around and added new salons as we went along.
“We now have branches right across the North West and Yorkshire and have opened the latest one at Clarendon Square.
“This is one of the four we are opening this year, so it’s a busy time for us. The others are in Formby, Oldham and Hull.
“The unit at Clarendon Square is about 1,000 square feet and we’ve been fitting it out to the highest standards. It has nine styling units along with a reception and waiting area.
“The salon has e a manager and five staff, including four stylists and an apprentice who is coming from the in-house training academy at our headquarters in Warrington.
“The academy, which we’ve had for about a year now, is taking on eight apprentices this year who will be allocated to our various branches. It also handles training and retraining for all our 95 staff and helps them to keep pace with the latest styles and techniques in the industry.
“Training is very important to us because our business is all about people.”
Malcolm Angus, Clarendon Square Manager, said: “We are very excited to be welcoming a new hair salon to Clarendon Square.
“We are also delighted to be welcoming such a well-established and growing family business to the fold.
“Top Cut will be offering another very good reason to come and shop with us at Clarendon Square which includes big name brands such as Argos, Bonmarche, Superdrug and B&M Bargains, and also a host of cafes and eateries including Lady Lavender tea rooms and Greenhalgh’s bakers.”
Michael added: “We’ve recently been recruiting for the six new positions at the Hyde salon and had some excellent response with lots of applications, particularly for the manager’s role. All the people we are taking on are local, which we are proud of.
“I think the success we’ve had so far is down to the quality of our work, our excellent service and affordable prices. It’s also the fact that the lady or man who comes to us to spend their hard-earned money after working all day wants to know it’s going to be a very enjoyable experience.”
Michael, who lives in Warrington, runs the business with the help of his 31-year-old son Jamie who works on the financial side of Top Cut.
Explaining his reasons for choosing Clarendon Square for his newest location, he said: “We’ve done our research, which shows that the centre is an up and coming place that’s going to get busier and busier. It also has an excellent management team who have been very helpful to us. We’re very much looking forward to doing some good business here.”
For more information go to www.clarendonsquare.co.uk