What does it take for a barber from a northern English industrial city to open the leading barbershop for English gentleman's style in Dubai, United Arab Emirates? Nothing less than an odyssey across the globe, a life story like that of a sailor from an adventure novel, and a truly remarkable attitude towards life and people.
Julian Colclough began his barber apprenticeship in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1987 at the age of 15. Naturally cosmopolitan, he was particularly fascinated by the contact with the young students from all over the world. In his second barbershop, where he found employment, he worked under an Italian master barber. Here he learned the craft from the ground up, with all its tricks and techniques. At 19, he took a holiday to Ibiza. Once exposed to the sun and the relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle, he realized he could no longer live permanently in England. He spent the entire following summer in Ibiza, supporting himself with jobs in nightclubs and also doing barbering in his apartment. After the summer, Julian worked for a while in Leeds, where in 1996 he had a student from Dubai in his chair. He simply asked the student if he could find him a job in Dubai. He could – and that's how Julian ended up in the United Arab Emirates.
The student from back then is now an ambassador for a UAE state, and Julian sees him on television from time to time. After stints in Sydney and Asia, Julian finally opened his own barbershop in Dubai in 2003. Today, he has regular customers whom he has been cutting hair and beards for since 1996. They followed him from his time as an employed barber to his own shop. When asked if he has any advice, he replies, "Good relationships with people are worth more than money." For Julian, this motto has paid off twofold. Firstly, he successfully runs his own internationally renowned barbershop. Secondly, looking back on every phase of his life, Julian says, "That was such a great time, so much fun." Not a word about worries, difficulties, insecurity, or long or irregular working hours. Even if cutting hair doesn't bring him quite the same joy anymore, he still needs the contact with people as much as he did on the first day of his barbering career.