A Welsh town with only 5,970 inhabitants has just got another barber shop – meaning it now has 14 hair salons, or one for every 400 people.
Plans by a Kurdish businessman to open a new barber in a vacant amusement arcade sparked anger among residents in Porth, South Wales, who said their town was already ‘saturated’.
But thirty-four separate letters of objection failed to convince members of Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT)’s planning committee to refuse the application, meaning it can now go ahead and open.
Opponents told the council that there were already 13 hair salons in Porth, many of them Turkish-style barbers, and that the dearth of other retail options was putting off visitors.
Adding a fourteenth means there will now be one for every 426 residents, based on figures from the 2021 census.
There are a further six barber shops in neighbouring towns of Blackwood and Newbridge – barely ten miles from Porth – where cut-throat competition led to mob violence earlier this year. While some are Turkish themed, they are all run by Kurds.
The concerns come after police have warned of criminals infiltrating the industry by setting up 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.
A Kurdish businessman has given the go ahead to open a sixth barber shop in a shuttered former amusement arcade in Porth
Pictured last month at the empty Turkish-style barbers in Porth where he works, Snur Abdulhmid, 18, said there were already ‘too many’ salons
Just last months, 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.
The newest barber in Porth is opening in a former amusement arcade on Hannah Street, The Rhondda Herald reported.
During a debate before Rhondda Cynon Taf’s planning committee, Councillor Loretta Tomkinson pointed out that there were already plenty of barbers in the town and that having even more would make it difficult for them to turn a profit.
Other critics said the number of objections filed against the new shop understated the level of public opposition.
However, planning officers recommended approval and said in their report: ‘The principle of commercial development at the site is acceptable and by bringing the property back into beneficial use, would result in a positive contribution towards the wider retail centre.
‘Furthermore, the application is considered to comply with the relevant policies of the Local Development Plan in respect of its visual impact and the impact it has upon the amenity and privacy of the neighbouring residential properties.’
One of the Turkish-style barbers already trading in the town of Porth in the Rhondda Valley, most of which are actually Kurdish-owned
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 the more than a dozen barber shops and hair salons within a six-minute walk on two streets in the centre of Porth
Hannah Street – one of Porth’s two main roads – once boasted a Boots chemist, a Woolworth’s, a Clarks shoe shop, women’s fashion stores and men’s outfitters.
In March, a branch of fashion store New Look which was based there shut its doors for good.
Even some of the town’s hairdressers now agree there are too many barbers.
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.
‘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.
Andy Murrains, 62, who runs a café bar in Hannah Street, Porth, was 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 several Turkish-style salons catering for the 6,000 residents of Porth in the Rhondda Valley
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’
There were no customers when MailOnline visited on a weekday afternoon and some of the men’s salons were closed.
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 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 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
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.’
