SINCE opening the doors to his new business venture in Bradford on Avon, Neil Parsons has been delighted to welcome a steady stream of customers to The Little Barbershop.

Mr Parsons, 44, opened the barbers in Weaver’s Walk in July.

Mr Parsons spotted a gap in the market for a second barbers in the town – and his hunch has paid off.

“I spent 14 years working in marketing. I worked for 20th Century Fox for 12 years and then set up my own marketing business and worked with Paramount. I then decided to take a two-year break to spend time with my daughters. One day I went to a barbers to have my hair cut and I thought, I could do that, so I started training,” he said.

“I chose Bradford on Avon because there are a lot of barbers in Chippenham, Melksham, Corsham and Calne. I came to the town and walked around asking the public about the barbers and the majority said that the one here already is great but there were always long waits due to how busy it gets. I found the unit which was essentially a store room and spent the money to fix it up,” Mr Parsons added.

When Mr Parsons, who lives in Swindon, found himself the unit behind The Secret Café and set up shop, he had to choose his look, and decided tradition was the way to go, right down to adding a traditional barber shop smell to his business.

Instead of following the current design trend for modern barber shops, Mr Parsons decided to take the more nostalgic route, refusing to add wifi or televisions.

“I wanted something different to the barber shops you have these days, something a bit more old-fashioned, like the ones I used to visit when I was younger.

"I use Bay Rum which is what barbers used to use when I was younger, they used to put it on your hair. I use a bit in the water, and it's just that smell which reminds you of being in an older barber shop.

"Some of the older people I have come in here remember it. I hope the younger ones get to recognise the smell as a barber shop smell,” Mr Parsons added.

The Little Barbershop is open on weekdays from 9.30am, closing at 5pm on most days, with a traditional early closing day of 2pm on Wednesday, and open 8am-4pm on Saturdays.