A Birmingham barber who started in the business at age 13 is still working in the same shop nearly 65 years later - and has no plans to slow down. 'Local legend' Melvin Eley has run the same barber shop in Stechford for decades, cutting the hair of footballers and local politicians along with a generation of Brummies. Melvin, 76, began working as a Saturday boy at the barber shop he now owns when he was just 13-years-old.
"I worked for [then owner] Tony for 24 years and bought him out. It is the same shop that it has always been. I put a bit of emulsion on it now and then," said Melvin.
Chatting to us as customers flicked through newspapers in the waiting area, Melvin said: "I have customers of 40 years. One customer, John, has been coming 66 years, I stick to haircuts now not shaves or blowouts. I had to close the shop for three months in Covid and when I came back.
I got Covid myself." READ MORE: I visited a Birmingham Wetherspoons for Christmas dinner and someone else ate it Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp Melvin's shop is the last one standing on Richmond Road in Stechford and he has cut the hair of a whole generation. He has recently battled prostate cancer, was widowed last year, caught Covid at the height of the pandemic, as well as navigating credit crunches and a cost of living crisis to keep his business afloat.
"It is good it was a bit slow at first but it built up over the years. With everything that's gone on over the last years" said Melvin. Melvin .
