The owner of a successful hair salon for 25 years in Putney is up for an award and is on a mission to help salons like his go green.
Graham Pollard, a hair stylist and business owner in Putney, has been named a finalist for the Sustainable Salon of the Year in the British Hairdressing Business Awards, which could make the fifth award he has won over the last few years.
Speaking on being a finalist, Graham told Your Local Guardian: “It’s really exciting to be up for an award and sometimes I feel that I have a bit of imposter syndrome.
“But sustainable is a really great thing to have as part of your business and I’m happy to be able to highlight that.”
Graham first began Atelier29 in 2000 after two decades working in the hairdressing industry since the late 1970s.
After many years working in a range of salons, Graham decided to set up the salon on the ground floor of his Putney home, describing it as “sustainable luxury” with a strong vintage aesthetic and a huge emphasis on sustainability.
The salon offers customers an “intimate and homely” setting where Graham operates on a “one-to-one” basis, taking one client at a time.
“It’s been a journey,” Graham said. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years from Liverpool to London, big salons to freelance.”
But it was later when Graham, an active environmental advocate and Greenpeace member, decided to make his salon greener, from using shower filters to reduce water consumption to using vegan and environmentally friendly hair products.
Graham said: “For me, I’m really trying to advocate that sustainability starts with you.
“I joined Greenpeace in 1978, and what I was doing didn’t relate to hairdressing back then, but now it must.
“I remember the first time I really started to think about sustainable hairdressing was when I tried an eco-friendly hairspray on a client.
“I was apprehensive because she was a bride, but the product was fantastic, and it’s just been onwards from there.”
The salon has adopted a number of technologies, techniques and products, including water-saving shower heads, eco-friendly hair purifiers and solar panelling.
Over the years Graham has built up a “loyal and longstanding” clientele, with many coming to him for his sustainable practices.
Graham said: “Sometimes I’ve had customers who might be a bit sceptical of using a new hair dye or hair spray, but a lot of the time they come back and tell me that it worked really well.
“But I also get customers who are told about me and the sustainability side of the business and come to me for that.”
As well as running a successful salon, which has brought in “many celebs, TV personalities and longstanding clients”, Graham has been working alongside the My New Hair charity with cancer patients and has also started the Sustainable Salon Inspector.
“A lot of businesses can be put off going green, mainly because they’re worried about the expense,” Graham said. “But what I want to do here is try and help salons find easy and cost-effective ways to make impactful changes to their businesses.”
He added: “Going green can make you more profit – that’s what I’m trying to show other salons.
“Just installing a better shower head can reduce water use by 65 per cent.
“It’s simple, effective and saves money.
“You can change, and let’s make the world a greener place and still do great hair.”
