Barbershop Talks: Murdock London
Tell us a bit about the story of Murdock London
For over a decade, our barbershops, located on London’s most iconic streets, have offered a contemporary take on the traditional barbershop experience. We have established ourselves as masters of grooming. Built on the mutual trust between a man and his barber, Murdock London is a haven for men to kick back, relax with a drink, and leave ready to conquer the world.
Since opening our barbershops, our barbers have also gone on to develop our performance product range. Inspired by the high-quality execution of our services, drawing from our barber’s personal experience, our products are designed precisely to suit and respect the characteristics of men’s skin and hair. The award-winning range has everything a man needs, nothing he doesn’t. We don’t gamble with men’s health or wellbeing and have purposefully banned unpleasant or unnecessary ingredients in our Clean Label line-up.
We are always striving to be at the forefront of male grooming and the trends that it brings, Murdock London is the go-to grooming destination for men across London, the UK and now the USA courtesy of our strong partnerships with international retailers.
How important is barbershop heritage to Murdock?
Wholeheartedly important. Our brand heritage respectfully nods to the finest barbershops of Victorian London and an English way of doing things: meticulous attention to detail, inherent good manners and artisanal values we share with tailors of Savile Row.
Barbers are the cornerstone of male grooming and the heritage of traditional barbershops is seen through our stores. We continue to offer a traditional wet shave for our clients and as much as the term ‘cut-throat’ razor may suggest, the experience doesn’t quite hark back to the likes of Sweeney Todd and his shop on Fleet Street.
From a barber’s perspective, what are the most important trends in male grooming right now?
Despite the ‘peak beard’ headlines we’ve seen crop up in recent times, beards are still very much as popular as ever, they’re definitely not fading away anytime soon (pardon the pun). We’ve also seen a surge of clients starting to grow their hair out more to create a more natural finish to their style, moving away from the skin fades that have become so popularised in recent years.
It’s important for us to be able to adapt to all trends and new styles with ease to ensure the customer is always happy and this is something that our barbers thrive on daily.
How, if at all, do Murdock think male grooming has changed in recent years?
It has massively changed. Men have started to care more and spend more on their appearance over the last few years. Men are more open and willing to book appointments to get their hair and/or beard looked after because they actually want the experience - and there is so much to enjoy from a visit to the barber’s beyond the service itself! (We have a complimentary bar in each shop, and also have up to date magazines and books that you would actually want to read.) Going to get a haircut really doesn’t have to feel like the uninspired obligation that it perhaps once was for a lot of men.
We care about men and understand the value of the authentic relationship between a man and his barber too. This is something that we feel is unique to the barbershop environment and something to be incredibly proud of and open about, which is why we emphasise our barbershops as open spaces for discussion. We are currently working in collaboration with mental health charity CALM to assist their incredible work with men. Our clients have also been very kindly offering personal donations to the charity having learned about its cause through our teams.
Mental health is a huge priority subject for our teams and our barbers are incredibly passionate about the wellbeing of their clients. Our #MoreThanABarber team are actively training on courses with Mental Health First Aid England and by qualifying as MHFA Champions, they are learning to spot the symptoms of mental health issues, offer initial help and guide men towards support - potentially stopping a crisis from happening.
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