Tony McDonough meets ROB WEBB,MD of Voodou

IT WAS once said that Liverpool had a pub on every corner. That could now be accurately changed to a hair salon on ever corner.

According to Rob Webb, managing director and founder of the Liverpool-based Voodou chain, there are actually more than 800 salons across Merseyside.

When you add to that the multitude of mobile stylists working in people’s homes with very few overheads, you begin to get an understanding of how competitive a market place this is.

That Webb, 53, can quote that figure from the top of his head is no surprise.

Aided by his financial controller and right-hand woman, Christine Valiant, he has a firm handle on the details, probably one of the key drivers of his success so far.

Voodou has five outlets across the city – two in Bold Street, one of which is just for men; one in Button Street; West Derby Road; in Tuebrook; and Breck Road, in Anfield.

It also has a concession based within the city’s Topman store.

In the last year, the company has also opened a hairdressing and barbering training academy. In total, the business employs 90 people.

Bold Street is Voodou’s headquarters, but it is at the Breck Road salon where it all began 35 years ago.

“I left All Saints School in Anfield at 16 with no qualifications,” said Webb. “I was no great academic. I went straight into hairdressing and when I was 18 I borrowed £1,000 from my uncle and opened the shop in Breck Road.

“Within a year I had opened the second store which when I look back now was probably pretty crazy – but it worked.

“Now, 35 years on, I am shoulder to shoulder with industry leaders. Quite simply, it is all about hard work.

“I do work long hours. Our car park here closes at 5.30pm and we all have to leave, but I will take work home with me and I always have a pad by the bed for any ideas that come to me.”

Attention to detail seems to be key to Webb’s approach to running the business – even the Big Issue seller outside the main shop in Bold Street appeared to be perfectly coiffed.

“From a hairdressing point of view, we aim to make people feel great about themselves,” he said.

“Proper training is important – that is all about the nuts and bolts – but behind the skilled stylist is the individual with a personality.

“That is important because we try to match a client up to a stylist with whom they will feel comfortable.

“For example, if a 70-year-old lady comes in then we may not match her up with a young trainee, as they may not have much to talk about.

“Retail sales come from good consultation. You cannot give a client something they don’t want or need.

“It is all about finding out what the client’s needs are.”

Webb says one of the biggest changes in the industry in recent years has been the effect of celebrity culture.

And he adds that it is now as important as ever for stylists to be aware of ever-changing trends and fashions. He said: “From day one, when we take a trainee on, what we want from them is some kind of idea about fashion and clothes – that is fundamental.

“As a business, we spend a lot of time looking at what is appearing on the catwalks around the world.

“Celebrity culture is now huge. The other day we had Chloe, from the TV show, The Only Way is Essex.

“It was great that she chose us and she put it out on Twitter that she was here – we had a load of people arrive here within a short space of time, including the paparazzi.”

That particular event, said Webb, demonstrated the power of new media and Voodou has not been slow to appreciate this.

“Facebook is massive for us “ he added.

“Five years ago, we realised that new media was something we were going to need to get our heads around. We now have more than 9,500 followers on our Facebook page and we have some research which suggests that could be more than any other salon in the world.

“However, we are careful about selling directly to our Facebook friends. We use it for soft selling – giving out special offers, for example.

“We also get 11,000 unique visitors on our website every month, which is pretty good going.”

Voodou’s new media presence is a key part of Webb’s wider strategy of being able to pinpoint precisely his target markets.

Both he and Christine spend a lot of time analysing the profile of their clientele.

He said: “ We know that 39% of our customers are students. That is a rise, as the last few years it has been around 30%.

“So we know that around September time we can expect to see people who have left home to come to university for the first time wanting to have green hair.

“We keep on top of the figures telling us exactly who is coming in because it is ever-changing.”

Webb admits that, in common with many other salon operators, Voodou has not been immune to the negative economic environment.

“Probably for the first time since I opened 35 years ago, we are not seeing year-on-year growth.

“Clients have not stopped coming in but where in the past they might come in once every three weeks, now it might be once every four or five weeks.

“Thanks to Christine, we have a lot of breakdowns that we can analyse.

“We have key performance indicators and we measure how many clients a stylist will see in one day and what they do for each client.

“For example, a stylist in the barber’s shop might do 12 clients in one day while a stylist with just female clients might do six.

“However, we know that on average ladies spend more than men and come in more often so that can even itself out.

“The next thing for us is online booking. We have been looking at it for a long time – we think it would particularly appeal to male clients.”

Voodou also has a loyalty scheme. Those joining are known as “disciples” which starts off with a “getting to know you” promotion.

Webb said: “The first time you come in you pay full price, the second time it is 25% off and the third time it is 50% off.

“Then you become a disciple and enter our loyalty scheme and with your loyalty card every eighth haircut is free. We have other partners in the scheme – the restaurant Gusto, for example.

“We now have a database of 30,000 people. But we don’t bombard them with emails. We send something out once every three months – they don’t get bombed.”

Voodou has won a string of awards over the years, including a global award in 2006 that it held for two years. Webb’s instinct is to keep on expanding but he says Christine helps him to keep his focus.

“The future is to carry on doing what we do best – we are in the business of making people feel great.

“We have the capacity to expand within the existing salons. If it was left to me, I would open 10 more salons, but luckily Christine keeps my feet on the ground.”