New Wigan mobile barber business launched

Barber Matt Sheriff and business founder Dave Rimmer

He is launching Vanbarbers, which seeks to help busy workers struggling to find time for a trim by bringing the scissors and chair to their place of work or neighbourhood.

The vehicle, which is fully kitted out for cutting hair in the back, will tour business sites and streets in the borough and people will be able to take a break from the daily grind by booking an appointment.

The new business venture is a far cry from Dave’s current role as a finance director for a platform company in Leigh but he is being supported by his wife Jenna who runs a hair and beauty salon in Pemberton.

The first vehicle is ready to go and Dave has taken on barber Matt Sherriff to drive it but he has ambitious plans to grow the firm and wants a fleet of vans to be travelling around each of the borough’s postcodes.

He has also decided this is the right time to start the new mobile barber business as he wants to provide employment opportunities as the borough tries to recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dave, from Pemberton, said: “Having my hair cut is a chore for me. I have it done every single week without fail but with everything going on with Covid things have changed dramatically.

“Now it’s either appointments or queueing outside, and I just don’t have time for that.

“There are 28 lads at our business and most of them get their hair cut every week or every other week.

“The idea is that the van will turn up and people get a slot for a 20-minute break.

“I want to progress and expand this as quickly as possible to get job opportunities out there.

“All you are hearing on the news at the moment is about redundancies. I’m a people person and I want to do something in the community in Wigan.

“I put an advert out back in July for this and got over 60 applications. It was unbelievable and made me determined to rush to roll this out.”

Dave eventually hopes to make Vanbarbers his full-time role and also has ambitions to franchise the concept with vehicles working further afield than the borough.

For more information email [email protected]