Hucknall hair salon highlights the personal touch as it celebrates its 40th anniversary

Arena Hair first opened its doors on Annesley Road in December 1982, before moving to its current location on Duke Street in 2005.

And founder Martin Leach, aged 59, says the secret to his salon’s longevity has been being interested in the people and customers that make it what it is.

He said: “Investing in people and training people is why we’ve continued to succeed as we have.

“We also have a loyal customer base, I’ve one customer who has been with me the whole 40 years and I’ve got plenty more who have been with us for 30 years.

“We’re all getting older, but they stay with us year after year.

"I think they like the fact we’ve got a very low staff turnover, so they see familiar faces each time. I think it’s the stability that they like most.

“It’s also been a consistent business in Hucknall and it’s a friendly place to come to."

The business is continuing to expand now, having opened a beauty salon element three years ago which is run by Martin’s daughter Alex.

And it is looking to extend the actual building it is housed in again in order to accommodate increasing numbers of clients.

Martin said: “We’re getting a lot of new clients coming from Nottingham where a number of salons have closed in recent years.

"People are also travelling less because they’re working from home, so they’re coming to us and we need to expand to find the extra room for them.

"The other main reason for the extension is to make it a wheelchair-accessible salon because people in wheelchairs can usually never have colouring done or their hair washed but the new extension will see special sinks going in for wheelchair users.

“I’ve also got to thank Ashfield Council, they are a big factor in my success as they have always supported me, be it in planning or whatever.

“Above all, what we are is fair with people.

“Even in the current times of the energy crisis, we’re not putting prices up or anything like that because the new customers we’re getting are covering that and they appreciate us more for that.”