Terry calvert - a career in hairdressing

When Terry Calvert was an ambitious 34-year-old with a thriving business in Hertfordshire, he thought, probably not unlike many other budding hairdressers, that he'd like to open a salon in London.In 1986 Terry secured a site in Covent Garden's prestigious Neal Street. Unfortunately, Terry had more enthusiasm than business acumen and within two years the Clipso business he'd spent nearly a decade building, almost came tumbling down around him. In two years the rent on Neal Street had tripled from £25,000 a year to £75,000, so Terry opted to relocate to another site in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden. His crucial mistake was taking on new premises before disposing of the old one. He found himself with two expensive premises to pay for, as well as builders who had already started to fit out the new salon. The debt soon mounted to a crippling £150,000. Not only that, but the stress of paying for two premium sites in London, only one of which was open for business, took a serious toll on his health. "My confidence was high. I had just bought out my partner for £100,000. Then I lost £150,000, with a devastating effect on my health. I got colitis - inflammation of the colon - which I'm sure was to do with the stress," he says. As owner and creative director of the now successful Clipso salons, Terry has come a long way since those days. Today his business has a turnover of £5m and around 1,750 clients through its doors each week. He is slowly expanding the Clipso brand through franchising and has seven salons, as well as the recently launched younger brand, Addiction, and his own product line. Determined not to be beaten by London, Terry now has a successful salon in Windmill Street, laying, he says, his London demons to rest. This time, he took on small, cheaper premises, only relocating to a larger site when the business was sufficiently established. Terry opened his first salon in Watford in 1978 at the age of 26, calling it Clipso to tie in with the bamboo, palm-tree décor that was popular in the 70s. "I was working in Munich in the 70s when I got a call from a friend who had bought a clothes shop in Watford and wanted to halve the size of it. He thought I might like half the space. The salon cost £15,000 to set up. I put £5,000 in myself, I had a partner who invested £5,000 and we had a £5,000 loan from the bank, which we paid back within a year. "I never doubted its success as people knew me in Watford. There was competition - another salon opened the same week and was charging £10 for a cut and we charged £7. "I was 26 then, so I was aiming at the younger market - but I wanted the salon to be open to anyone." The salon opened on 1 September 1978 and by Christmas was making more than £1,000 a week. It made £52,000 in its first year of trading. "Achieving £1,000 a week at Christmas was a big buzz for me," recalls Terry. In 1982 he opened a second salon in Hemel Hempstead, a natural progression as many of his Watford clients came from the town. In 1986, confident from his previous openings, Terry felt he wanted to open in London, which is where his problems began. "I regretted going into London at the time," he says, "but I'm back now, so I wasn't put off for life. I was just lacking experience." Having eventually shed the two London premises, Terry sensibly opted for a period of stabilisation. In fact, it took him 12 years to recover from the financial loss and turn the company's fortunes around. "I felt I was a failure," he says, "but I still carried on. Not a lot of people knew how bad it was." Now the future looks bright. Clipso has bought a salon in Brighton, which he plans to franchise. "We chose to expand by franchising because I don't want the day-to-day stress of running more salons. It also allows our people to develop." Terry would like to build the company from its present seven salons - London, Hemel Hempstead, Cheshunt, Brighton, St Albans and two in Watford - to 12 in total. He'd also love to open an academy. But despite his plans for expansion, Terry has no thoughts of hanging up his scissors. He still works in the salon four days a week and considers it vital to keep his hand in. Looking back, what were the mistakes that nearly saw him go bust? "I was naive," he says. "I listened to too many people - a lot of people talk a good story, but don't come up with the goods. Believing your own ego is also a mistake - you have to go with your gut feeling and don't do things for the sake of it. I've now learnt not to go too mad at once - do things gradually." To date the group has won 22 hair awards, including Eastern Hairdresser of the Year seven times, and Artistic Team of the Year twice at the British Hairdressing Awards, as well as the L'Oréal Colour Trophy Glamour Award in 2005. "I've been in the business for 29 years but I'm only up to seven salons - it's a slow process, but I've got a very solid base. You need a great team with you - and someone who's very good at controlling the finances."