I want that job! matthew david

Matthew David has his own salon in the heart of Mayfair, as well as a successful product range. How did a boy from Derbyshire make it big in London? We find out! When did you decide you wanted to be a hairdresser? It was with work experience while still at school. I grew up in Derbyshire where my father was a welding engineer and my brother a factory worker. I thought I'd fall in to the category of 'getting my hands dirty' too, but when I spent a week at my local salon I fell in love with the idea of cutting hair. I'd never really enjoyed school, so going to work seemed like a pleasure. Where did you train? I trained locally in Derbyshire before moving to London, where I trained with Nicky Clarke. It became my home of hairdressing for the following 15 years. What was your first job like? My first job was a small local salon, easy to walk to from home. They were long hours, but it was good training. I started as a junior, cleaning and washing hair. The salon mainly consisted of a female team of stylists and I was the only man there - it was a tough job!! When did you decide that you needed to move to London from your hometown to further your career? It was a time when breakfast television was showing lots of makeovers, week after week. It excited me and it was something I really wanted to experience. The only way to do it was to move closer to it. When did you make the decision to open your salon? The salon I was working in started to look and feel tired. The recession and credit crunch had kicked in and people were becoming more cautious with their finances. Staff morale hit an all time low, and I just knew I could provide a more upbeat and refreshing service to my clients; something younger, fun and exciting. Why did you decide to open in Mayfair, given that it is an area with a lot of competition? I had built up an extremely large and loyal clientele and my reputation had grown both in the hairdressing industry and Mayfair itself. Reputation is everything, so I decided to stay in the area. Although Mayfair is the most expensive area in London, I thought we must start as we mean to go on and  I became a popular face on the Mayfair circuit. It's nice being known for your profession. You pride yourself on sensible pricing in a premium postcode – what was the decision behind that and has it been at all challenging? While all of the salons in and around Mayfair were charging extremely high prices, I felt that with my last salon it had become more about being expensive and less about customer care. My theory was, why shouldn't clients be treated like royalty by adding value for money and a much more personal service? No more paying for refreshments for each client and also conditioning treatments if we felt their hair really needed that extra TLC. When did you decide to launch your own product range and what was the decision behind that? I had a range of products in the pipeline that I'd been developing for over five years with a team of professionals. I wanted to bring to the salon a commercial haircare range that all my stylists would use everyday on their clients and be happy with. We decided to launch them live online to the whole of the UK early this year and the response of sales has been a little overwhelming. My team of distributors are busy every day packing and shipping products out to the general public. How has your salon grown over the last two years in terms of clients and turnover? We've never paid to advertise as most of our recommendations come from networking with our existing clients on social media and magazine and newspaper articles. I have been very lucky to have journalists and bloggers approach the salon rather than having to pay for marketing, which has encouraged new clients to the salon. We have gained a very loyal client base over the years and I just love watching my team grow their own clients becoming busier each year. I always think that what you project is what you attract, and each of my team provide a great service to the public. I feel confident in each and every one of them. What’s been the highlight of your career so far? There have been many highlights for me, from creating the latest product range to hit the market to having Christine Mitchell Driver and Raymond join the salon. Christine was the first female to open a unisex salon in Mayfair with Raymond. They worked with big names like Ronnie Wood to Kate Moss. They are a huge inspiration to myself and the team and I'm honoured in having them choosing to work alongside me. Also sponsoring this year's calendar for Breast Cancer Care was another fantastic involvement for the team. What’s your next career goal? There are many! From launching a children's product range to reopening MDTV, which is an online channel representing work from myself and my team. As I grew up in Derbyshire I still visit regularly. I'm in talks at the moment with someone whom I consider to be one of the greatest female barbers in the industry regarding opening a male grooming room. I have had so much support from everyone in my home town that I love the thought of giving something back to Derbyshire and collaborating with her. It's something for the future but watch this space.