Ten years in business for barber shop

Owner and barber Andy Willis started out on his first day in business on January 10, 2008, at the original Sheep Street premises, as the only one cutting and did a total of nine haircuts.

Now, 10 years on, the barber shop has celebrated its anniversary, and is a multi-award-winning businesses which recently moved to bigger premises.

Bicester-born owner Mr Willis said: “I can remember so clearly as a boy that barber shops were a place where men were men and boys were treated like men. It was a man’s world; full of cigarette smoke and Brut. The smell, the atmosphere. I just loved it.”

The 40-year-old spent 17 years of his career barbering in Bicester before managing a shop in Oxford and then creating Andy’s Barbers in Bicester..

He added: “It just became clear to me that ladies went to the hairdressers to feel like a million dollars, but where did the men go?

“I have always wanted the shop to ooze class from the second customers went in, right through to the moment they left.

"At our previous location we became the only barbers in town to offer hot towel shaves, work late nights, have an HD TV, and have both male and female barbers.

"We’ve always been leading the way and our new shop is no different.”

Mr Willis made the move to the Pioneer Square premises in August 2017 and now boasts 10 cutting stations and a VIP room often frequented by players from Oxford United.

Mr Willis says the move was ‘bitter-sweet’ as the former shop in Sheep Street held so many good memories, but the move was vital to keep up with demand.

Mr Willis has also decided to take on a new venture alongside the barber shop and will be opening the Gent’s Groom Room – thought to be the county’s first male grooming centre for treatments such as manicures, facials and waxing.

He added: “There is a gap in the market for this. The male grooming market doesn’t need to be in the shadows of beauty salons and we’re proud to make Bicester part of the male grooming revolution.”