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"It was one of those things I never
really thought about, but a friend of
ours has got N1 KKY or something
similar. She's a client and a friend,
and of course every time she pulls
up in her really girly car everyone
thinks it's mine because of the
number! I tell her not park it too
near the salon, please! But with
mine, it's one of those things where
I haven't really gone out and
thought 'Oh, I must get one with
1NC' or something. I prefer the
amusing side of it."
passion
It really does seem that it is the
sheer fun aspect that interests
Nicky, rather than any urge to show
off or demonstrate his success with
his number plates. That emphasis
on fun and enjoyment is obviously a
prime motivator in Nicky's
professional life too, and he is still
very much hands-on where
hairdressing is concerned. The
passion for his craft clearly remains,
and is reflected in his preference for
the youngest, rawest recruits when
training new staff. As he opens
more salons, Nicky obviously find
himself in need of top-notch stylists,
but he would rather train from
scratch than try to force people to
unlearn the techniques taught by
other stylists.
"It's not like a KFC franchise," he
says. "It's not a situation where I
can say 'Here's the recipe, now off
you go!', so I can't have just
anybody doing it. I prefer 16 year
olds to train: it means I get them
raw, and I really do like being able
to mould them. There is no past
training to overcome."
So is Nicky's approach to styling
really that different?
"Yes. That's why I prefer to train
from raw. If someone has been
trained in another method and they
suddenly move between companies,
well then there is generally just
slight tweaking to be done. Moving
from that to what I do is a major
shift - a real change.
"For one thing, my method involves
dry-cutting in a way that makes it
quite an unusual thing. There's not
been too much of that in the last 30
years, just a few of us doing it. I do
what I call my 'rough sketch' wet,
but all my fine-tuning is done dry.
It's like a piece of sculpture: like
you're chipping away at something
until it's absolutely right. The
attention to detail is much greater.
It's a hard thing to teach en masse
because you're basically trying to