A small town ‘overrun’ by Turkish-style barber shops is in revolt over plans to open yet another – with even the men who work in them saying the number is becoming unsustainable.
There are already five catering for the 6,000 residents of Porth in the Rhondda Valley, on top of seven traditional hairdressing salons, all on just two streets and within a six-minute walk.
Now a Kurdish businessman wants to open a sixth barber shop in a shuttered-up shop – sparking opposition from the local business community who say the town is already ‘saturated’ with one salon for every 500 residents.
There are a further six Kurdish barbers shops in neighbouring towns of Blackwood and Newbridge – barely ten miles from Porth – where cut-throat competition led to mob violence earlier this year.
The concerns come after police have warned of criminals infiltrating the industry by setting up barber shops as front companies to launder the proceeds of crimes like drug dealing.
More than 750 barbers opened in the UK last year despite a broader High Street downturn – raising suspicions that some are being used by gangs.
Just last week, enforcement teams across the West Midlands raided a string of Turkish barber shops and seized more than £500,000 in illegal cash during a crackdown on money laundering.
Meanwhile unhappy customers have taken to TikTok to share videos of their wonky haircuts and patchy skin fades – possible signs of illicit businesses cynically co-opting the proud, centuries-old tradition of Turkish barbering.
Snur Abdulhmid, 18, who works at Porth Barber, one of five Turkish-style barber shops catering for a population of 6,000 in Porth, in the Rhondda Valley, says there are already ‘too many’ such salons in the town
A Kurdish businessman wants to open a sixth barber shop in a shuttered-up former amusement arcade in Porth – sparking opposition from the local business community who say the town is already ‘saturated’ with one salon for every 500 residents
One of five Turkish-style barbers already trading in the town of Porth in the Rhondda Valley, all but one of which is actually Kurdish-owned
Hannah Street – one of Porth’s two main streets – once boasted a Boots chemist, a Woolworth’s, a Clarks shoe shop, women’s fashion stores and men’s outfitters.
Only last month a branch of fashion store New Look which was based there shut its doors for good.
Today it and neighbouring Pontypridd Street, like many of Britain’s high streets, are full of barbers, nail bars, takeaways and charity shops.
Council planners are due to consider an application for a new barbers in what used to be an amusement arcade in Hannah Street.
Now the local chamber of trade has sent a formal objection, saying there are already 13 barbers or hairdressers within a radius of less than 550m (600 yards).
Mail Online found 12 when it visited the town, of which five are Turkish-style barbers – although none is run by Turks, with four Kurdish-owned and one Arabic.
Barber Snur Abdulhmid, 18, who works at Porth Barbers in Hannah Street, said: ‘There are too many, we don’t need another one.
‘If there are too many, no-one can make money.
Pictured at the empty Turkish-style barbers in Porth where he works, Snur Abdulhmid, 18, said there were already ‘too many’ such salons to cater for a population of 6,000, adding ‘we don’t need another one’
Another of the five existing Turkish-style barbers in Porth in the Rhondda Valley – local businesses say the town is already ‘saturated’ and does not need another one
Situated side-by-side, two out of a total of 12 barber shops and hair salons within a six-minute walk on two streets in the centre of Porth
Porth in the Rhondda Valley currently has 12 businesses offering haircuts – five Turkish-style barbers and seven traditional hairdressers, such as Jaz Hair Design (pictured)
‘If it carries on, we’d have to close the shop.’
Mr Abdulhmid said the barbers was a ‘legitimate’ business, although he was aware that Turkish and Kurdish barbers are seen as a front for organised crime and money laundering.
‘That doesn’t happen here, we pay tax and VAT,’ he said.
There were no customers there when MailOnline visited on a weekday afternoon and some of the men’s salons were closed.
The list include some traditional women’s hairdressers with names like Chic and Hair by Janine.
David James, 76, a retired plumber and heating engineer from the town, said: ‘I use a local barber although I have nothing against the others in the town centre.
‘It’s ridiculous to have so many barbers and hair salons so close to each other. It can’t be sustainable.
‘It makes the town centre unattractive when you get so many businesses all offering the same thing.’
Andy Murrains, 62, who runs a café bar in Hannah Street, Porth, is opposed to a further increase in the number of Turkish-style barbers, saying it is ‘not in the position where it can afford to lose a few businesses’
Porth Barber is one of five Turkish-style salons catering for the 6,000 residents of Porth in the Rhondda Valley
Shuttered shops and estate agents signs in one of Porth’s two main shopping streets illustrate how businesses other than barbers, nail bars, takeaways and charity shops are struggling
A survey conducted last year found locals in Porth felt there was already an over-abundance of certain businesses ‘such as fast-food takeaways, beauty parlours, and barber shops’
Andy Murrains, 62, who opened up a café bar in Hannah Street six months ago after moving from London, said: ‘There’s always gossip and Chinese whispers about some of the places.
‘This street is not in the position where it can afford to lose a few businesses, that’s the reality of it.’
A survey conducted last year by Porth and District Chamber of Trade found locals felt there was already an over-abundance of certain businesses, ‘such as fast-food takeaways, beauty parlours, and barber shops.’
After the chamber of trade posted about the application on social media, many locals commented that there were already plenty of barbers in Porth.
One said: ‘They are overrun with barbershops.’
‘Does make me wonder how they can all stay in business,’ Ian Heritage posted.
Another person added: ‘Objection raised, more need to do the same, this is getting beyond a joke.’
The chamber has now written to Rhondda Cynon Taf council saying an extra Turkish-style barbers would be ‘detrimental’ to the town centre.
‘A lot of our members are hairdressers and barbers and they have come to us with their concerns about this application,’ vice-chair Dan Parry said.
A brawl erupted earlier this year in the South Wales town of Blackwood over a barber that was set to open in the nearby town of Newbridge
‘The lack of diversity it creates within the town centre is also a problem and is causing a deficit in customers for the high street.
‘If it keeps being repeated that there are only barber shops in the town centre, you’re not going to go there unless you want a haircut.
‘Then, if you already have a barber, in Tonypandy for example, you’re not going to go to Porth, even though there are independent businesses opening up, offering new things.’
In a letter opposing the proposed change of use, the chamber said: ‘This application is detrimental to Porth town centre and should be refused.
‘Approving yet another barbershop in a town already saturated with similar businesses would offer no tangible benefits and would indeed pose several harms: it would strain existing barbers/hair salons, erode the diversity of the high street, contradict the council’s own development plans, and go against clear public sentiment.’
The application for change of use is currently out for consultation.
