Paul Robinson has seen generations of customers come through his doors over the decades
Paul has been cutting peoples hair for over five and a half decades (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Whether it’s for a last minute haircut on Christmas eve or for a fresh trim in preparation for our wedding days, barbers across the city are always on hand to make sure we look our best before the biggest occasions.
However, one person who has been their longer than anyone else, tending to the various styling requests, is Paul Robinson aged 81. Nearly six decades on from doing his first haircut, he is still proudly serving his loyal customers at his shop at 81 Lark Lane in Aigburth.
Paul first began cutting hair on Lark Lane back in January 1968 when he signed a seven year lease for £416 a year for number 81. Seven years down the line, he went on to purchase the shop and the house next door for £5,500.
Trips to Paul’s modest barber shop has always seemed to be much more than just a place to get a hair cut. Paul told the ECHO forming friendships with his customers is something which has always been important to him.
He said: “When they come in to me, they open themselves up. That’s the more important thing. I get people from all walks of life, from doctors to consultants, they’ll come in and open themselves up. They’ll tell me their problems, that’s more important to me than anything.”
Paul bought the shop and the house next door for £5,500 in 1975(Image: LIVERPOOL ECHO)
He added: “They come in and have a good chinwag, it’s that type of shop. Sometimes they don’t need their haircut, they’ll come in and they’ll buy me a cup of coffee and if we’ve got time, we’ll have a little chinwag, so that’s more important than anything.”
Paul’s willingness to “have a good chinwag” seems to be one of the secrets to his success, as generation after generation call on him when they next need their hair cutting.
He said: “As I said before, the customers are just friends, there was a guy who came in the other week who brought his son in, I used to do his dad’s hair, I did his hair, and now I’m doing his son’s hair, so that’s three generations of cutting their hair.”
Paul’s Barber shop (left) during its earlier days in business(Image: LIVERPOOL ECHO)
While he has seen generations of families from the local area pass through his shop, some of his previous clients include the likes of Liverpool legend Ian Callaghan, as well as members of some of the city’s favourite bands including The Christians and The Real People.
However, Paul said he treats everyone exactly the same, he sees “everyone as friends”.
He said: “People say that they’re famous people, but to me they’re not famous people, they’re just people, they come in and get their haircut and talk about what they do in their life.
“To me there is no one famous, they’re all my good customers, they’re all my friends and that’s the way that I look at it.”
Having celebrated his 80th birthday last year, many might expect Paul is counting down the days before calling time on his near-six decades in business, however while the notion has crossed his mind, any plans to call it a day are firmly on hold as things stand.
Paul said that he isn’t planning to retire any time soon(Image: Liverpool Echo)
He said: “It just keeps me going, I’ve got arthritis in my hips and my thumbs but when I get into the shop and I start chatting and working, they (the arthritis) drift off.
“It’s good mentally for me to carry on working. But there will come a time when I do have to go.”
Paul said his hair cutting prowess still hasn’t shown any signs of waning.
He added: “Mentally I’m fine, I haven’t got the shakes yet, I haven’t cut anyone’s ear off or anything like that.”