Hidden down an alleyway at the foot of one of Liverpool's most historic buildings, sits the city's "best kept secret".
You'd almost miss the narrow opening while walking down Water Street. But as the vibrancy of Castle Street bars and restaurants flows down to the waterfront, with Hooters opening next door and Gaucho steakhouse across the road, this alley may soon become a destination in its own right. Neil Palin, 35, and Luke Gorman, 37, took a "big risk" when they rented a "disgrace" of a unit on Oriel Close in August 2020.
The dead-end alley, through an arch on the ground floor of Oriel Chambers, had been "neglected" with crumbling walls, dumped rubbish, and a water-logged brick floor before 2019 when Yakel Property Investment purchased the property. Neil, who worked for Scottish Power before opening Oriel Close Barbershop, told the ECHO: "It was a big risk, but Luke is one of the most popular barbers in this area."
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Luke, who first met Neil as his barber 14 years ago, said: "I've been doing my job now for 20 plus years, it was just time I got my own venture. Life's too short. We've all lived through the pandemic, we've all got vulnerable people we live with, and if you don't make your own step, it can be gone, so why wait?"
The gamble seems to be paying off, thanks in part to loyal customers who followed Luke to the new location and painted weight-bearing beams black on lunch breaks or while waiting for haircuts. Oriel Close Barbershop has been able to maintain a steady flow of customers working in the surrounding streets' hospitality industry by keeping the price of a cut and finish to £20, lower than you might expect for a barber in a Grade I listed building.
Oriel Close is full of scaffolding as work is underway on the neighbouring New Zealand house in preparation for the controversial launch of a branch of Hooters, an American bar chain known for its scantily-clad waitresses. Once those wood and metal structures are cleared, Yakel can move forward with plans to rejuvenate the repaved and repainted passageway, which is illuminated by lights at night and is also home to an Italian culinary workshop offering pasta making classes.
Neil, originally from Everton, hopes it will become the next Queen Avenue, an alley off Castle Street with fine wines store, wine bar and bistro, and an art gallery. Inside Oriel Close Barbershop, a book about Oriel Chambers' architect, Peter Ellis, sits on the counter, harking back to nearly 160 year-old, glass-fronted building's significance as a prototype for skyscrapers around the world.
Shelves of empty spirit bottles behind the till hint at future and Luke and Neil's plans for a speakeasy-style bar with wall lights flooding a copper-gold arched ceiling in the shop's backroom, which they hope to launch by early 2023. Luke, from Tranmere, said: "I want to make a community hub. It's taken just over two years now, we've got three other lads who work here, two of them I've trained up, so I've known them since they were 16.
"I want people to come here, whether they're male, female, part of the LGBTQ+ community, I want everybody to feel safe in a nice place. There are no judgements, everybody gets on, and we've started now after two years to get that community.
"We have a lot of different people who walk through the door and there's no judgement. People feel safe, they feel comfortable to stay, they feel relaxed. And that's going to coincide with the bar, whether you just want a coffee or you want a cocktail, you know you're going to be coming to a safe place where you feel comfortable, safe and just enjoy your time."
He added: "We don't want a lad culture, none of the barbers do that here. We just try and keep it as calm, as nice and as peaceful as possible, but we still have a laugh with our customers and we still treat every customer differently, depending who's in the chair and how they want to be treated. I have customers who just come in and want to take the mick out of me, and I'll take the mick back. But I have customers who confide in me, and customers who I confide back in as well."
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