Where in west London do you live and why?
I no longer live in west London. We moved from Maida Vale five years ago to Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire. But we get our west London fix almost every day coming to the salons in Notting Hill. If we could choose anywhere to live in west London it would be in Little Venice by the canal.
Where do you head to for after-work drinks?
The Elgin on Ladbroke Grove – good vibe, good food, good music and a great selection of gin!
What has been your biggest personal hair faux pas?
Having a perm when I was 15 – my sister was training to be a hairdresser and was learning to perm so used me as a guinea pig. I ended up with an afro!
Your lucky clients get to enjoy brownies handmade by your wife with every treatment. You are a strong work team as well as recently celebrating an important wedding anniversary [10th – but been together 16 years]. What’s your secret?
I think men are like dogs – when they know where they are in the pecking order, they are happy!
You recently became a Bikeminded Hero. What does this entail and what have you been getting up to?
Bikeminded (the fantastic initiative set up by RBKC to get people cycling) have given us a magnificent Brompton bicycle which I and the whole salon team have fallen in love with. We are blogging about our exploits on it and having recently taken it to Copenhagen (the cycling capital of the world).
Can you give us some tips on how to get avoid helmet hair?
To avoid helmet hair, make sure you don’t put your helmet on when your hair is wet, or it will set with the ridges from the helmet. A pair of mini straightening irons (we love Cloud Nine as they are tiny, but have the heat of full size straighteners) are great to iron out small kinks.
If you have a shaggy, slightly more informal haircut you can get away with helmet hair a bit more than if sporting a sleeker style. To get rid of helmet hair, tip your head upside down and run your fingers through it with a light wax.
What’s in your fridge at the moment?
Lots of steak, ostrich fillets, fromage frais and cottage cheese – I am on the Dukan diet!
Have you been on any holidays recently? If so, where?
We have just spent three weeks in Denmark. It was luxury to be away for so long. We drove there and travelled around – a bit of sea, a bit of city. It was just perfect.
What do you miss when you’re away?
Normally Max and Blue (our English cocker spaniels) but this time they came with us which was great.
If you could style anyone’s catwalk show, whose would it be?
I would love to do Alice Temperley’s. I love her clothes, especially her collaboration with Barbour; it has a great Nordic feel to it.
What’s your most memorable moment?
Right now it is the restaurant NOMA [Copenhagen; voted The World’s Best Restaurant 2011], where we have just been and of course getting married is right up there.
What could you not live without?
My heart and my camera.
How would you describe your personal style?
At the moment I like suits and waistcoasts teamed with a great shirt, Levi’s and a pair of trainers. My hair is changing all the time – long/short. I always have new ideas for it.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
To lose weight. Not just to be thinner, but to be fitter and have more energy to be able to do everything I want to do at both work and play. At home I am finishing a big project in the garden (making a pond, waterfall and deck) and at work I want to strengthen the salons and build our newly-formed creative team.
