Congratulations to H & CO, Our Salon of the Month

Guess who’s this month’s ‘Salon of the Month’? It’s H & CO Hair Salon from Torquay, Devon!

In case you didn’t know, H & CO Hair Salon was founded by Hannah Harry back on the 22nd May 2017. Hannah had aspired to own her own salon since the very beginning of her hairdressing career, so as soon as the premises she was eying up became available, she jumped on the opportunity.

Hannah was extremely clear about her vision for H & CO Hair Salon; she knew from the get-go it was going to be aimed at the top tier client who wanted all things luxury. So, of course, it made sense to place herself and her salon on the edge of the most affluent area in Torquay, Devon.

From day one Hannah decided she wanted a team of six stylists. With no existing client loyalty, she was under no illusion that this was going to be an uphill struggle. Marketing and promoting herself became a saving grace and allowed her to build a client base to sustain all six stylists in her brand new debut salon.

After an initial struggle to open her dream salon, Hannah experienced many highlights which she was happy to share. She said:

“Being shortlisted in all 5 categories of the Salon Business awards that we entered has to be our major highlight, together with being selected as finalists in 5 categories in the British Hair and Beauty Awards. Another would be visiting Not Another Salon’s academy for a day of training with the whole team and of course, the first time we made a profit was very welcome and definitely a defining moment too!”

In a landscape with so many salons to choose from, we wanted to know why H & Co Hair Salon clients choose to visit and why they choose to stay. Hannah is sure it’s because they’re 100% focused on customer service and client experience. Of course, great hairdressing and colour work is another defining factor but they see this as their bread and butter.

They’re also the only hair salon in the South West of England with a full alcohol license and provide free G&T’s, prosecco, wine, lager and cider as well as Pimms in the Summer and mulled wine in the colder months.

Hannah also ensures that they take care of every little detail and need the client could want, from USB ports in all plug sockets in the salon as well as free to use USB cables to free umbrellas for clients to use when they’re caught out by the weather!

With a successful formula that relies heavily on client experience and customer service, we asked Hannah how she motivates her team to deliver to this high standard day in, day out. Hannah said:

“We have a career path which stylists follow. Each stylist has a set of goals that they are working towards which include any specialist areas that they would like to pursue such as Keratin work, extensions, colour specialism or design work. They are provided with a bespoke training programme to help them meet their needs as well as benefiting from training and events such as HJ Live, Salon International, Salon Smart and Colour World. All staff receive an annual appraisal and quarterly reviews to monitor progress towards their goals. We employ all of our staff with basic salaries and commission where fully booked staff are able to earn in excess of £30,000 per annum. We give a lot which motivates them to do their best in return.”

"[Clients] love the shine and feel of their hair when they leave the salon."

With such a luxurious environment and the highest of standards, of course, it makes complete sense for H & Co Hair Salon to be an INNOluxe stockist, but how did Hannah find us?

“We used other brands rebond treatments, however, we found that they worked great internally but had little visual effect on clients hair. We started offering INNOluxe treatments within approximately 2 months of opening because it provided both the internal strengthening of hair but also client could see and feel the difference. INNOluxe also provides us with high shine which helps in our promotional photographs online. The main feedback from the client was that they love the shine and feel of their hair when they leave the salon which really helps seal the deal.”

Hannah feels that INNOluxe is the key to enhancing her salon’s work and highlighting the work they’re already doing. When the clients leave her salon they feel they’ve actually got something from their experience which helps with repeat business and client loyalty. She also feels INNOluxe helps to grow her client base because of the quality of hair images she can share online.