“When you’re forced, it’s amazing how resourceful you can be.”
Meet ELP Barbershop – one of the astonishing businesses who through the pandemic found new ways to generate income. Find out how.
Read time: 2 mins Added: 12/05/2021
Emma who owns a chain of pubs and a barber shop in Angel, North London, admits that unlike the first lockdown, grasping the severity of what the pandemic would mean for her multiple businesses didn’t happen overnight. However, going from ’it’ll be nice to have three weeks off’ to ‘How am I going to survive?’ soon became a harsh reality when a full book of hair appointments and pub tables disappeared overnight.
With an ‘all or nothing’ attitude and an ever-present awareness of her responsibility for the livelihood of her staff, not just her own, she began to look at ways where the business could successfully come out the other side and control their own reality.
What they did differently during lockdown:
“I thought I was just a hairdresser.”
Product development. Originally something that started in her kitchen, lockdown forced Emma to finalise the development of a new beard oil product range. Tapping into the current zeitgeist, and learning how to pivot to find other parts of the business to create turnover, the new range is set to launch in June this year.
Boosted online sales. a surprising outcome from customers was that they truly cherished the products ELP had on sale. Despite it being more convenient to purchase from a large high street retailer, the demand for home deliveries increased and became a positive revenue stream.
Protected more than just jobs. part of ELP’s philosophy is to encourage a workforce who are passionate about what they do. This is partly achieved by setting high wages, so when the business successfully applied for furlough they were protecting more than just jobs, they were protecting a lifestyle choice for everyone involved.
Created a mobile pub (out of a black cab). Although initially seen as a vanity project, and whilst persuading punters it wasn’t a cab but a mobile pub, trying something different created an unexpected amount of awareness and buzz around the community, which meant they stayed firmly on their customers’ map.
Looking forward:
“Whatever you think your business does, you can do 100 other things.”
It is clear that lockdown unearthed a level of resilience Emma and her business partner didn’t know they had. Despite the difficulties, the experience will have a positive impact on how they will run their businesses in the long term.
They have lost some capacity across sites due to Covid regulations, but the barbershop is fully booked, thanks in part to the flexibility working from home brings to a customer base. Everyone is also very excited for their beard oil to launch and be on the market.
Good news for ELP, and good news for budding beard growers everywhere.
ELP Barbershop, Angel, North London
You may also be interested in:
Important legal information
Lloyds Bank is a trading name of Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH.
Lloyds Bank plc. Registered Office: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 2065. Bank of Scotland plc. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ. Registered in Scotland no. SC327000. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc. Registered office 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales no. 10399850. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 119278, 169628 and 763256 respectively.
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH has its registered office at Thurn-und-Taxis Platz 6, 60313 Frankfurt, Germany. The company is registered with the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, HRB 111650. Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH is supervised by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht.
Eligible deposits with us are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Please note that due to FSCS and FOS eligibility criteria not all business customers will be covered.
While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is correct, no liability is accepted by Lloyds Bank for any loss or damage caused to any person relying on any statement or omission. This is for information only and should not be relied upon as offering advice for any set of circumstances. Specific advice should always be sought in each instance.