Southampton hairdresser at St James Hair & Beauty owner retires

Susan Gill, 67, put down her clippers for the last time on the Friday before Christmas as she stepped away from St James Hair & Beauty in Shirley.

The hairdresser business has been going since it was opened by her mother in 1958.

Susan told the Echo: “It’s like saying goodbye to family, I think it’s moments like this when you realise just how much you’ll miss people, there are generations of families that have been coming here for such a long time.”

In 1958, Susan’s mum, Jocelyn, opened the doors to the hair salon for the first time before Susan took over management of the business in 1993.

“In my mum’s day it was very different,” she said.

“I remember Christmas Eve my mum would be working from 7am until 8pm at night and I’d be sat on the stairs waiting for her to come home.

“Nowadays, more and more people are colouring their own hair and come to us once every few months.”

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Susan added: “My mum was president of the hairdressing federation, and I started hairdressing at the age of 15, it’s been a huge part of my life.”

In 30 years of owning the business, Susan has had to contend with flooding – in 1998 after a water main burst outside the salon – and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.

In 2018, to celebrate the company’s 610 years in business, staff members past and present gathered for a one-off party.

Susan said: “We’ve always focused on people – both staff and clients – and we’ve always got along with everyone, so it was special to celebrate that particular landmark.”

Reminiscing on her time at St James Hair & Beauty, she added: “For years at Christmas we’d dress up in pantomime-themed costumes and do things like that which was really fun.

“I now cut the hair of grandchildren whose grandparents my mum used to see, so you become part of people’s lives.”

Ownership of the salon has now been passed onto Emma Sainsbury, who first started working at the business at the age 13 as part of a weekly Saturday job.

“She wanted to run her own place and I thought it would be nice for her to stay here and take over,” said Susan.

“I’ll still live with my husband upstairs, above the shop, so it will be nice to pop down occasionally and see familiar faces – I might even make them some tea and coffee!”