Over two centuries ago, Truefitt & Hill claim to have opened the first barbershop in Britain. Since 1805 they have been catering to the monarchs including many royals of other European courts, famous politicians such as William Gladstone, The Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, writers such as Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, personalities from the entertainment industry such as Alfred Hitchcock, and more recently even Matthew Broderick and the oh-so-gorgeous Lenny Kravitz.
After a salon at Koregaon Park, the brand has opened a second outlet at JW Marriott Hotel, Senapati Bapat Road. The brand has been brought to India by the Lloyds Luxuries Ltd, which has acquired the master franchise license for India as well as Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Says Krishna Gupta, founder and MD of Lloyds Luxuries, “We started our association with the brand five years ago to get it to India. So far, we have opened 23 salons, with this one being the 24th, across 13 cities.”
Talking about what sparked their interest in the brand, he says, “Truefitt & Hill is the oldest barbershop in the world with a royal warrant. A royal warrant is given only to brands who offer the best quality of goods and services. It is a prestigious recognition by the royal family of England. This was the primary reason we selected the brand to bring to India. Its heritage gave us the confidence that it would sustain its quality and would be a successful business in India.”
The high quality of services and products is maintained throughout the world. This simply means that if you walk into any of the Truefitt & Hill salons, you will be treated like royalty. “We don’t offer regular services, we offer experiences. One of our signature experiences is the 45-minute royal shave, which starts with a hot towel, followed by a face scrub to clean the pores and exfoliate your face, then a massage with pre-shave oil to relax your face muscles and help reduce razor burn and redness caused by the blade. After that, the customer can choose from 10 different varieties of shaving creams and after shave balms,” says Gupta.
Another signature service is their Royal Haircut, which includes a thorough consultation session with the hairstylist about what they want, how they can maintain the style, how suitable it is for them, and other concerns and suggestions. “The experience includes a shampoo both before and after the haircut. We also include a relaxing 20-30 minute head massage with no additional cost,” he adds, pointing out that every barber in their salons is trained to be superior in his or her work and offer the same quality of service, unlike other salons in the city where barbers are classified into varying grades, based on their expertise.
“Initially, during the first three years, we had barbers from England come and train senior barbers in India about quality, technique, systems, and processes. Those senior barbers were certified to train the rest of the employees. We currently have a training academy in Mumbai where each and every barber needs to go through training that varies between one-and-a-half to three months before they enter the salon to learn everything there is about the brand and the standard of quality that needs to be met with. They need to be equipped with the skills to reflect everything that the brand stands for,” says Gupta.
The brand also offers over 150 products including shampoos, cologne, balms and so on, all made in England, which claim to be unparalleled in quality. Popular products include the frequent use shampoo which has a minty scent, thickening shampoo for more volume, vitamin E shampoo for dry scalp, and a coconut shampoo that smells like a tropical vacation. “We also offer colognes and shaving products suitable for all different tastes, whether the customer prefers a fresh citrusy smelling product or something more woody like sandalwood, or even something stronger. Our body products such as shower gels and body soaps are very popular as well,” says he.
In an age where everyone’s using electronic shavers, the brand offers a range of vintage razors for sale. “For me, the best razor is the double-edged one where you have to unscrew it to put the blade and then rescrew before a shave. I think that gives me the best shave. It is traditional and good for the skin. Trimmers are good for customers who want to keep a beard or want to style it, not for those who like a neat clean-shaven look,” says he.
They plan to open 10 more outlets in India within the next few months. “India is a growing country. And men have completely ignored grooming services in the past. We were the first ones in this segment to offer these luxurious experiences and men are taking to it. We have found that there is a strong demand for such services in tier 2 and 3 cities. They are appreciating quality, and there is a willingness now to spend more on themselves. All of this probably comes from the rise of social media where men are being influenced by celebrities. They are realising that only dressing well isn’t enough, you also have to focus on personal grooming. It is an essential part of how you carry yourself,” says he.
