Errol - as Sharp as his name

16/4/2009

‘‘It’s all right hair’’ might have been Errol Sharp’s motto when he began his hairdressing business 40 years ago in Dunedin’s Moray Place.

Earlier this month Errol (1960) celebrated 40 years of trade at his one-man St James Hairdressing, which has been run from the same shop, opposite the Rialto (once St James) picture theatre.

Not part of the service . . . Danny Rae, of Bannockburn, was not too sure about his hairdresser of 40 years, Errol Sharp, threatening to apply a cutthroat razor to his beard when the pair and other customers met earlier in the month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Errol’s Dunedin St James Hairdressing shop.

Among them was Danny Rae (1964-67), whose hair Errol began cutting 40 years ago when Danny was still at Otago Boys’. He still makes the journey to Dunedin for a regular haircut, even though he has lived at Bannockburn since he retired, and Millers Flat, where he was a farmer, before that.

Errol noted other clients travelled even further than Danny for a haircut, with some ringing from overseas to book appointments.

‘‘They know they are going to be in town, so they make an appointment.’’

During 40 years of cutting hair, Errol has heard many stories, including from one elderly client who flew Sopwith Camels during World War 1 and became a squadron leader during the Battle of Britain, in World War 2.

Being one-on-one with people, with no-one else in hearing, meant he often heard about the ‘‘triumphs and tragedies’’ in people’s lives, he said.

He first learned his trade from Archie McHoull. After his apprenticeship, he worked elsewhere for a year, completed compulsory military training and then bought the business from the late Mr McHoull in 1969. He caused a stir in the Otago-Southland Hairdressers and Tobacconists Association when he broke with tradition in 1975 and stopped selling tobacco from his premises. At that time, he also changed to an appointments based system for hair cutting rather than the traditional walk-in-off-the-street.

This allowed him to develop a loyal clientele of mainly men who called for a regular wash and cut.

Errol hasn’t noticed the recession yet, and said his client base had remained fairly steady over the years. As natural attrition occurred, he seemed to be gathering new clients at about the same rate as he lost them. It was a job he could not see an end to, and planned to complete a fifth decade at the same location.

‘‘It’s a great way of life. Social interaction between friends all day, all week. Why would you quit it? It’s stimulating.’’