One of Syston’s Longest Running Hair Salon’s Owner Wayne Retires on 1st July
Wayne opened his first salon on High Street, here in Syston 1st July 1981 and will be retiring on 1st July 2026 after 45 years.
When I asked him if he always wanted to be a hairdresser, he smiled and said no, he fell into it after saying for a joke to his careers adviser at school that he wanted to be a hairdresser. He actually wanted to join the Police. However, an opportunity to apply as a trainee hairdresser came up and his mum suggested he tried it, just in case he didn’t get into the Police.
He went for an interview and was offered the apprenticeship and he trained at Michael Peat in 1976. Sadly when Michael died Wayne went to work for his dad in engineering who unfortunately had to make him redundant, he then worked at a hairdressers on East Avenue where again he was made redundant, so he leased and set up his own salon on high street, in July 1981. His dad was his guarantor as Wayne was only twenty and at that time it was expensive and difficult to get finance to set up on your own. He worked hard with long days to establish his business initially working in his own, only employing a hair washer later in that year. The original salon was next door to the current salon, and he got married a month later on 1st August 1981, so as he said he can’t forget how long he and Helen have been married.
A lot of his customers followed him from the salon on East Avenue to High Street.
After 18 months he employed his first stylist called Fiona.
He continued to build the trade and in 1984 he opened another salon in Sileby which he kept until 1987 with stylists in each salon. He worked between the two until they started a family and he found it to much, so he gave up the Sileby salon.
In 1997 he purchased the first salon premises.
Wayne explained that they all used to be owned by the co-op and that the wood panelling at the top of the salon was all painted in the Co-op green which took about nine coats of white paint to cover it. He has a wealth of knowledge of the High Street.
In 2001 he moved into the current salon as its bigger and brighter.
Wayne then converted the old salon to a barbers for a year and then rented it out to a beautician. Now it is the entrance to the accommodation above the salon.
In 2004 he purchased the second and current salon premises.
A new name appears above the salon entrance as Rae who has worked for him for 27 years took over the business June 1st 2025 and Wayne has been renting a chair since then, but now he will retire fully.
Wayne would like to say a huge thank you to all his customers and staff for their continued support across the years. He and his wife Helen are looking forward to a long and happy retirement where they can enjoy their family, friends and hobbies.
