INTERVIEW
Bringing craft
hairdressing
to Jersey
Hairdressing has taken Damian Philpott from Plymouth
to Canada and New York, and back to the UK. He spoke
to Sophie Wilkinson about his journey.
H
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATT PORTEOUS
airdressing is in Damian’s
blood. His grandfather,
who he declares his hero,
was a barber, opening
his own shop when he
left the Air Force after
the war. “He opened the shop without any
qualifications, I think he thought it was
something easy to do, something he could do
without training,” Damian tells me. “Once
he had saved enough money, he bought the
shop next door and turned it into a Post
Office/ Newsagent that my gran worked in.
He only bought it so he could see her more
often as he worked from 5 in the morning
until 9, 10 o’clock at night when the last
client left.”
Damian always wanted to follow in his
grandfather’s footsteps, he recalls how his
brother and sister would sit under the counter
in the shop next door, waiting for their gran
to affectionately throw sweets down to them,
whilst he would sit in the barbers with his
grandfather and talk to the clients.
I’m intrigued as to how Damian ended up
working as a hairdresser rather than a barber.
“I used to get my hair cut in a salon by a
girl called Nicky and I mentioned that I was
interested in working with hair, I got home
from the appointment and the boss, Bernard
Roper, had already rung me to offer me a
Saturday job – so, at age 15, I took it. I had
only ever thought about cutting hair, I hadn’t
considered colours, perms, and styling.”
Once Damian had finished school, he
remained at the salon as an assistant. “I did
my last GCSE on a Monday and started in
the salon on the Tuesday, I didn’t have a break
at all. It wasn’t the coolest salon in Plymouth,
but it was the most consistent. Bernard was
fully booked 6 weeks in advance every week,
and he wasn’t even a great hairdresser - he
would tell you that himself though! The thing
Bernard drilled into me was to be consistent
in everything that you do, the way you cut
hair, the way you clean the salon etc. if you’re
consistent you will do well.
"Bernard was a really cool guy, I used to
stay behind and watch him cash up the till, I
would ask him how much we had taken, how
much was his, and he used to tell me. I had
a great relationship with him, he was like a
second dad to me in many ways.”
After completing his training, Damian
worked at the salon as a hairdresser, but only
for a short time.
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