Maidenhead was the 'cradle' for successful salon chain marking 40 years

A group of salons founded in Maidenhead exactly 40 years ago is celebrating its milestone anniversary this month.

Robert Smith co-founded Haringtons in 1984 at their flagship salon in Queen Street before expanding across the home counties.

Over four decades, the brand has evolved from a single 12-seat salon into a hairdressing chain based in Amersham, Beaconsfield, Marlow, Wendover, Winchester, and Wokingham.

Robert was only 24 years old when he opened Haringtons in Maidenhead and said he feels ‘very blessed’ with its success, adding:

“It’s been a very rewarding career. I feel really proud of the people that have come through the business.

“It’s a totally different world today to what it was then – some ways better, some ways not so good.

“I can’t believe it’s 40 years – it’s incredible.”

Robert trained as a hairstylist in London and worked in a Beaconsfield salon for three years before deciding, with a partner, to start a business of their own.

“Maidenhead is very special for us. It was the cradle if you like,” he told the Advertiser.

“At the time, we looked at Marlow and Windsor, and Maidenhead was the best town – Maidenhead was a buzzing, thriving town back in the 80s.

“It was a totally different town.”

Queen Street was ‘really cool’ and home to multiple ladies' and men’s clothing shops and cafes at the time, said Robert.

“We expanded to the other areas and some have got to be much better areas for shopping than they were then. It’s come full circle,” he added.

The company ‘outgrew’ its small 700-square-foot premises within five years of opening in Maidenhead and was soon ‘falling out of the seams’ of its expanded unit.

Haringtons later expanded to Marlow and Windsor and eventually bought the Beaconsfield salon Robert used to work for.

“From Maidenhead spawned the other salons because we put some of our best stylists in the Marlow salon to help build that and we opened Windsor and did the same thing there,” said Robert.

“Maidenhead has replicated itself in other towns and we’re very proud of that.

“The fact we opened in Maidenhead then, and we have such a great loyal clientele and a very thriving business – we’re very happy to have opened there when we did 40 years ago.”

Being ‘people focused’ is the secret to success for the salon group which has achieved recognition at the British Hairdressing Awards and was named one of the Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For.

“From the beginning, we've always believed that two elements are key to our business: our staff, our people, and our customers and clients. Being people-focused is the key, and our amazing training system is our main strength,” said Robert.

“The foundation of our business is the training. Some are managers now and have been with us for 30 years since we started.

“We are all about people. Our wage bill is by far the biggest expense in our business.”

He said the recent Government Autumn Budget announcement brought ‘fear and panic’ into the hairdressing industry.

“We’ve been through three recessions, the banking crisis, COVID which was a massive challenge, and recently the impact of inflation,” Robert added.

“We’ve been through massive ups and downs. This is another challenge for us to get through.”