A HALESOWEN barber is looking forward to moving to larger premises in the town to expand his business.

Joey Howard runs Market Street Barbers in Plaza Mall on the High Street.

The 26-year-old was all set to expand when the pandemic hit and plans were shelved - but now he is looking forward to finally moving to 3, Hagley Road and opening as Halfcut Barbers.

The new shop is the former Tabouki Laine and before than Cake Emporium unit and Joey hopes it will be open by early October with a fundraiser for Halas Homes planned for its opening week.

Joey has started work on the unit, which has been empty for months and will be totally transformed, with the help of his family.

The new barbers will give Joey space to expand his business and he will have chairs for two freelance barbers.

Joey said: "I have been preparing to do this for the last three years and as soon as the finances started to look like we where getting somewhere, we where hit by the pandemic.

"That stopped everything dead in its tracks.

"In the aftermath of the pandemic and as things start to ease their way to something close to normality I want to build the new shop into something special and finally offer my clients the service they deserve!"

The new shop will serve beer, hence the name, and coffee.

 

Joey Howard in his barbers in Plaza Mall

Joey Howard in his barbers in Plaza Mall, which is staying open until the new shop is ready for him to move into.

 

Joey said: "In 2018 - 2019 the shop reached its peak. We were at maximum capacity from open to close and we started to lose a small amount of clientele because of how busy we were.

"The only way to fix this was to introduce another barber or two, but the size of the shop meant this was impossible.

"With the new property I intend to build it to the same place we were in 2018 - 2019, except now I will have the advantage of being able to scale with growing demand.

"The new place will have a better structure taking advantage of an appointment service to eliminate wait times.

"There will be a walk-in service available between appointments until we are to booked up to offer walk-ins.

"There will be complimentary refreshments offered (beer, water and coffee) for clients to enjoy during their hair cut."

The hard-working former Windsor High and Halesowen College pupil, started his own barbers age just 18, in 2013.

He is still cutting hair at Market Street Barbers in the Plaza Mall, until the new unit is ready for him to move to.