Discussion
Everywhere you go now, high streets have glitzy barber shops by the dozen. I live near a very small rural town and we have just seen our second glitzy barber shop open. We had two old school ones already established there for many years.
The fit out of the barbers are clearly expensive and their customer base light to say the least not to mention their long opening hours.
You hear people go on about them being fronts for more nefarious purposes. Anyone know the truth behind them, do they get investigated? Is it for the Inland Revenue to look into?
The fit out of the barbers are clearly expensive and their customer base light to say the least not to mention their long opening hours.
You hear people go on about them being fronts for more nefarious purposes. Anyone know the truth behind them, do they get investigated? Is it for the Inland Revenue to look into?
You can order an entire Turkish Barber's instant starter kit online.
A massive box arrives with everything you need. Lots of red, black and gold fittings, chairs, mirrors and so on, plus a little toy car for the kids to sit in. It all comes in kit form, ready to be installed in a vacant premises.
You also get two Turkish blokes inside the box as well.
A massive box arrives with everything you need. Lots of red, black and gold fittings, chairs, mirrors and so on, plus a little toy car for the kids to sit in. It all comes in kit form, ready to be installed in a vacant premises.
You also get two Turkish blokes inside the box as well.
motco said:
On a visit to Taipei some while ago, I was advised by my host to avoid barber shops if I wanted a haircut, but to go to a big hotel where 'real' barbers operate as opposed to the 'personal services' provided by the establishments with the barber's pole outside.
Just hope the barber's pole stays outside.Tom8 said:
motco said:
On a visit to Taipei some while ago, I was advised by my host to avoid barber shops if I wanted a haircut, but to go to a big hotel where 'real' barbers operate as opposed to the 'personal services' provided by the establishments with the barber's pole outside.
Just hope the barber's pole stays outside.
I went to my old hometown a week ago, on the old local high street there were 6 barbers on one side of the road and 2 on the other.
None of them had any customers but there were various RS6s and M5s parked outside so they're either charging 5k a hair cut or there is a magic money tree in the back. I'm not saying they are money laundering or a front for work visas but I'm surprised HMRC aren't all over them.
None of them had any customers but there were various RS6s and M5s parked outside so they're either charging 5k a hair cut or there is a magic money tree in the back. I'm not saying they are money laundering or a front for work visas but I'm surprised HMRC aren't all over them.
All the while there are no complaints about anti social behaviour and taxes are being raised paid, no one cares.
The fact that so many ‘cash heavy’ businesses operate in tiny ‘high streets’ or parades of shops up and down the land is interesting. If you were involved in the sale of drugs, a cash business, then being able to legitimise that cash is crucial.
Perhaps that could be a reason why so many barbers, beauty salons and nail bars have opened up. Could explain why so many of them seem so empty as well.
The fact that so many ‘cash heavy’ businesses operate in tiny ‘high streets’ or parades of shops up and down the land is interesting. If you were involved in the sale of drugs, a cash business, then being able to legitimise that cash is crucial.
Perhaps that could be a reason why so many barbers, beauty salons and nail bars have opened up. Could explain why so many of them seem so empty as well.
I moved to the outskirts of a small rural town 12 years ago, then there was one Barbers in the town, it was busy but never had massive queues. Now there are 3 Turkish and another 2 more normal barbers, the original has gone now. The population is very similar if not the same as it was back then, it makes you wonder how the people working in these shops manage to earn enough to feed themselves. I can't be the only person wondering how you manage to pay 3 people to sit around doing nothing most of the day.
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Chris Peacock said:
Do any of the "Turkish" barbers actually have any Turkish people running them or working in them? My local ones certainly don't.
The first one which appeared in my neighbourhood, and is still going, is run by Turkish Cypriot blokes. I used them for a couple of years because I really liked their service (and tea). Then, after Covid, and the mushrooming of similar establishments, the penny dropped with me that they're probably fronts. So I've gone back to the local middle aged lady's barber shop, who accepts card payments - I won't go to a cash only place any more. Many of the recent Turkish ones appear to be staffed by Iraqis and the like, rather than Turks/Cypriots. I think the original one I used to go to is legit, but still they're cash only so I won't go there now.
Chris Peacock said:
Do any of the "Turkish" barbers actually have any Turkish people running them or working in them? My local ones certainly don't.
The "Turkish" chap I used to use in the city (prior to it becoming £35 a visit) is Iranian.The little town I'm in now has about 8 "Turkish" places and 3 run by young lads that look like they've just finished "Love Island", this is alongside about 20 more conventional barbers and hair places.
It's clearly an industry that isn't struggling.
thetapeworm said:
Chris Peacock said:
Do any of the "Turkish" barbers actually have any Turkish people running them or working in them? My local ones certainly don't.
The "Turkish" chap I used to use in the city (prior to it becoming £35 a visit) is Iranian.The little town I'm in now has about 8 "Turkish" places and 3 run by young lads that look like they've just finished "Love Island", this is alongside about 20 more conventional barbers and hair places.
It's clearly an industry that isn't struggling.
When I were a lad (4 Yorkshiremen) the incomers were Italian barbers. Where have they all gone? There were several in my home town which I used as a lad.
The most pointless thing in a Turkish barbers is the poster showing all the different styles you can have. Everyone comes out with the same one!
They're not all fronts for gangs.
The Turkish are born traders and grafters. If there's several in a town or street, it's likely they're all owned by the same owner. They choose shops with highly negotiable rents, know how to fit a place out to make it look good for minimal outlay and all their kit and consumables probably come from their mates' businesses back in Turkey who run a couple of artics up from there, which they also own, to the UK a couple of times a week. The lads who work in them usually all live in the same house or flat. Work hard, live like paupers for a few years and take their savings back home to build a waterside vila in Kyrenia.
The 'proper' ones are the busy ones. These know their market..... beers while you're having a cut and the like.
It's the ones where they just seem to be cutting each other's hair that are the suspect ones!
They're not all fronts for gangs.
The Turkish are born traders and grafters. If there's several in a town or street, it's likely they're all owned by the same owner. They choose shops with highly negotiable rents, know how to fit a place out to make it look good for minimal outlay and all their kit and consumables probably come from their mates' businesses back in Turkey who run a couple of artics up from there, which they also own, to the UK a couple of times a week. The lads who work in them usually all live in the same house or flat. Work hard, live like paupers for a few years and take their savings back home to build a waterside vila in Kyrenia.
The 'proper' ones are the busy ones. These know their market..... beers while you're having a cut and the like.
It's the ones where they just seem to be cutting each other's hair that are the suspect ones!
Money laundrettes.
If you own a chip shop, the tax man knows how many chips you've sold by how many potatoes you've bought. The tax man can't know how many heads you've shorn. And that's before considering that they can be a front for nefarious activities. On my manor there are loads of Albanian "barber shops"...
If you own a chip shop, the tax man knows how many chips you've sold by how many potatoes you've bought. The tax man can't know how many heads you've shorn. And that's before considering that they can be a front for nefarious activities. On my manor there are loads of Albanian "barber shops"...
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