Glasgow’s Taylor Ferguson celebrates 55 years in hairdressing

It was a massive gamble, moving into competitive-heavy Glasgow City Centre after running the family's modest Coatbridge salon, where Anne had also worked her way up as a junior.

The gamble paid off and the pair went on to become the biggest hairdressing names in Scotland with a celebrity client list that has never been replicated north of the border.

Billy Connolly and Gregor Fisher are regulars and the pair have welcomed hundreds of other famous faces into the salon including Penny Lancaster, Rachel Hunter, Lulu, Belinda Carlisle and Nigella Lawson as well as most of the Old Firm in the 1980s.

Nigella “had a presence” while Belinda Carlisle is described as a “lovely lady” and the Big Yin is known to entertain clients with jokes and stories.

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But if you are looking for celebrity gossip, prepare to be disappointed, any chat over-heard over the sound of the hairdryers will not leave the salon.

“That’s something we have always been careful about,” says Anne. “They know who they can trust because they have been around a long time,” Taylor adds.

Both Tayor and Anne continue to share an infectious enthusiasm for the hairdressing world, which, “doesn’t ever feel like a job.”

If there is a secret to their success it that all Taylor Ferguson clients are given the warmest of welcomes, without fuss or fanfare and with infinitely better looking hair.

Anne says: “It’s a compliment if a celebrity comes to town and comes to you, that’s nice but they don’t keep us in business. We treat everyone the same.

“The nice thing about most celebrities is, they don’t want any fuss.” adds Taylor. "You get people like Greg Fisher or Billy Connolly. They just chat like their your friend and you get on with your business.

“Our target is to make someone feel good, no matter who you are.”

Anne, who gave up cutting 25 years ago to focus on the business side, says: “People say to me, what are your hobbies and I say 106 Bath Street.

“I don’t see this as work because you get the best part of everyone’s life. You get them when they are getting married, having a baby. We have people who come in who are bringing their family in."

The biggest difference in hairdressing today, according to Taylor is that clients want styles that looks good in a hurry and there is greater individuality.

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He says that in the past, they received far more requests for celebrity styles like a Princess Di crop or Rachel bob and “you could do it with your eyes shut.”

“Clients want a good cut and colour that doesn’t need re-done in a short period of time.

“It used to be every four weeks for colour. It’s too harsh and people don’t have the time and it’s also very expensive.

“You can look at any magazine and it’s all easy hairstyling.

“The other thing is that we spend more time with clients.”

Anne cites Vidal Sassoon’s Bob as her all time favourite style, “because it re-invents itself all the time.”

“I think the bob will still be with us, when we are long gone. The most fantastic thing about hair now is what you can do. If you’ve got straight hair you can make it curly.

“It used to be if you had curly hair, there was nothing you could do. If you’ve got short hair you can make it long with extensions.

“So many people use their hair to look younger and I think that’s fantastic. It used to be that you were told not to have long hair over 40. Now, that’s completely out the window.”

Anne and Taylor have a warning to parents of young girls, “who scrape their hair back into a ponytail.”

“Children’s hair is not fully formed until they are about 10 or 11.” Anne says. “The tension that’s put on the hairline does have an impact on later life.”

Despite 55 years in the industry, Taylor is still laser- focussed when he’s styling hair, according to Anne and is known to go quiet with clients when he’s cutting.

Style icon Kate Moss and The Queen are the two women that he would most like to get into his chair.

“I’d change her (the Queen's) hair slightly and smooth it out because it’s a bit rigid. I could do her hair beautifully,” he smiles.

“As for Kate Moss, you could do anything on her."

The couple will celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary in the New Year and while Anne concedes working with her spouse can mean, “There are some days we could kill each other," it also means any problems are quickly resolved over dinner at night before they clock in the next day.

Any spare time is spent with their two grandchildren and son Taylor, who works as a chartered accountant after his parents persuaded him not to go into hairdressing because of the long hours involved.

“He now works crazy hours,” laughs Anne. During his latter school years a film crew followed the family for one of the first ‘fly on the wall’ reality shows.

The couple are cautionary about trainees, “learning at a hairdressing school in six months and then starting work in salons.”  All juniors they take on receive three years in-house training.

After 55 year in the hair industry Anne says her husband still has a thirst for learning.

“One of the things Taylor loves is to go down to London. He will just sit in or outside a cafe and watch the street style. He sometimes sketches.”

“It’s so diverse,” he says, “I just love it. You get inspired and that’s what you have to do in hairdressing. You have to keep learning.”