Celebrity hairdresser Phil Smith says he never had ambitions to start his own business when he left school with just one GCSE under his belt.
Fast forward three decades, and his brand now has a retail turnover of £10million a year after Phil worked his way up to become an award-winning stylist.
His career has seen him open 28 global salons worldwide and launch his own haircare range, Phil Smith Be Gorgeous, which is sold in Sainsbury’s.
Phil, who lives in Salisbury, shares his incredible story as thousands of students across the UK anxiously pick up their GCSE results.
He said: “I’ve always been entrepreneurial and use to sell cigarettes at the school gate to my peers so maybe it has always been in me.
“However, when I left school I originally wanted to work in the police force so owning my own business was not on the agenda.
“It wasn’t until l started work in a local salon that I could see the potential hairdressing had to build my own business.”
The now successful entrepreneur left school aged 16 to work in McDonald’s and had just one O-Level in art under his belt after failing all his other subjects.
After a year at the fast food giant, Phil secured a place on a youth scheme and started training up as a hairdresser in a salon owned by celebrity stylist Raymond Bessone.
But he says hairdressing wasn’t always what he had dreamed of doing and cheekily admits that it was a pretty girl that first sparked his interest.
“A girl in my local salon caught my eye and so I went in for a haircut,” he remembers.
“I ended up getting a job (and a date) and fell in love with the industry.”
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After being trained up, what followed for Phil was stints at well-known brands such as Toni&Guy, leading him to open his first salon under the Toni&Guy name in Salisbury in 1991.
Phil would then go on to open a further 27 salons across the globe, including in Australia and Canada.
By 2006, he’d made a solid name for himself in the hairdressing world and found himself nominated for British Hairdresser of the Year.
It was this nod that led to him being contacted by Sainsbury’s about creating a haircare range.
His Phil Smith Be Gorgeous portfolio now consists of 41 products and is still sold in 800 Sainsbury’s shops.
Phil said: “I was the only one of six British Hairdresser of the Year nominees not to have their own product range, so Sainsbury’s approached me off the back of my nomination.
“We had numerous meetings about how a branded haircare brand would sell in a supermarket and the rest, they say is history. We’ve worked together in an exclusive relationship for over 15 years.”
Phil sold off all his salons in 2010 to fully invest in his haircare line, which now provide him an annual turnover of £10million.
Since then, he has gone on to open one not-for-profit salon called Smith England in Salisbury and has just launched a new sustainable haircare range, also under his Smith England label.
He also has plans to launch his Phil Smith Be Gorgeous range in South Africa, Australia and across Europe.
He said: “I saw a large increase in product turnover during lockdown while salons were closed.
“It is inevitable this has tailed off slightly as salons have reopened and consumer spending changes again but as part of a recent rebrand, I included foreign translations on the packaging labels.
“This gives us scope to take Phil Smith Be Gorgeous further afield.”
Speaking ahead of GCSE results day, Phil said his advice to anyone worrying about their future career to stay focused and don’t give up on your dreams.
He admitted: “Honestly, I would say in business there are more downs than ups. But the ups feel so much better than the downs.
“Launching and running a business is all consuming, there will be big sacrifices you need to make along the way.
“There will be difficult decisions and dark days. However, like I said, the good times make up for all of that.”
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