WHENEVER Danielle Bates walked past the hairdressers that used to be on London Road, Rayleigh, she’d think to herself what great location it had.

Perfectly placed for mums to drop in after the school run and for lots of passing trade, but she never thought it would come on the market.

Little did she know that fastforward a few years, she would be running her own successful hairdressers, House of Hair, from that very building. “The previous hairdressers used to be Blondie, a very well established salon which had been there for around 35 years,” said Danielle.

“To me it was a dream location, and I would fantasise about what I would do if the property came on the market. I even said this to a friend a few years back and she said I should write a letter to the owner, but I didn’t feel I could.”

However, Danielle’s opportunity came right in the middle of lockdown when she noticed that the business had been sold. “I saw some posts ina community group where people were saying‘where will I get my hair done now Blondie has gone?’ I looked at Rightmove there it was, the premises was up for sale.”

After some viewings Danielle took the leap and launched her business, adding: “I have never run a salon before, but I took all the good bits I have learned in the 23 years I have been a hairdresser and brought them into what I do. It sounds cheesy, but running the salon here feels like it was meant to be.”

Danielle launched House of Hair on October 26, 2020, and she now has a six-person team, including four senior and two junior stylists. ‘I’ve dreamt of running a salon here, and now I do’

The friendly boss makes sure she nurtures her staffs’training. “Our team member Izzy Cole is taking final assessment this week to become a stylist and we are all really proud of her.I have a great team and I want them to be the best they can be,” she said.

The team are active on social media where they wow people with the hair transformations and funny videos. “Fifty per cent of our clients come from social media, so it is important to us to engage with people online. We want people to feel they know us even before they step inside the salon.”

Having come 21st in the Hair and Beauty Awards 2022, the team are going from strength to strength. They were out in force for the Trinity Fair this month showing visitors their hairdressing skills.

Search @thehouseofhair.rayleigh on Facebook and thehouseofhair_rayleigh on Instagram.