SAKS hair salons are a staple of the British High Street, but few people know that the chain was born 40 years ago in a small shop in Darlington. Vicki Henderson went to meet the men behind the brand.

IN 1974 chains of hairdressing salons were rare; the system of franchising was almost unheard of.

But that didn’t stop Dennis Cheesebrough and Stephen Kee working to build one of the biggest hairdressing empires in the UK, all from one salon on Darlington’s Priestgate.

Although the company now has more than 100 salons, all operated as franchises, three training academies and a growing international operation, its headquarters are still based in Darlington.

“At an early age I decided that I would rather have a share in ten salons rather than own one salon,” says co-founder Mr Cheesebrough.

“I’d rather have a share in 20 salons rather than own two. I guess back in 1974 I was quite forward thinking, although I didn’t realise I was forward thinking.

“It wasn’t a dream or an ambition to have lots of salons, it was just what I wanted to do.”

Mr Cheesebrough and Mr Kee, who joined as an apprentice on the day the first salon opened before eventually becoming managing director of the company, have spent the last 40 years building their brand.

That first salon on Priestgate, later demolished to make way for a service entrance to the Cornmill Shopping Centre, quickly led to the pair opening seven further branches within five years.

The idea of franchising, a business agreement where a person pays a fee for the right to trade under the name of another company, soon followed, with hairdressers who had trained in their salons offered the opportunity to strike out on their own.

“Franchises were unheard of at that time,” says Mr Kee. “It just wasn’t a word that was used in any industry, the public didn’t know about it. The only other one we knew was Prontaprint, which came from the US.

“The only franchisees we took on were people that were already working for us – people who were coming through who wanted their own salon. This way, instead of setting up in competition to us, they were allies.”

The franchising system led to Saks expanding across the North East and North Yorkshire, eventually becoming so successful that the company started taking on franchises from people elsewhere in the country.

Now with 100 salons to its name, the Saks brand has been working to weather the recession and is now looking at further expansion, with six new branches expected to open this spring.

Mr Kee says: “We weren’t affected by the recession for the first couple of years but then we realised that our clients were still coming to us, just not as often. That started to make a difference and we started to feel it.”

The company decided to invest its way out of the recession, redesigning its salons, updating its website and embracing social media and technology to connect with its clients.

“Because we did all that work three years ago, now the recession is showing signs of recovery we are in the perfect place to launch the brand further, where others aren’t,” says Mr Kee.

“Our investment during the recession is going to pay dividends.”

So how did one hair salon become 100, with more franchise enquiries coming in each week?

Mr Cheesebrough believes the longevity of the brand and its success over the last 40 years gives people confidence.

“It’s not a brand that arrived yesterday and will be gone tomorrow,” he says. “Money is hard to come by so people would rather invest it in a brand they know.

“People are less careless with their money than in the boom years. They’ve learned their lesson.”

Saks may not trumpet its Darlington roots, especially as its focus turns to international expansion, but Mr Cheesebrough hopes people in the town are proud of their homegrown success.

He adds: “People don’t realise that we started here, they just assume that there are a few local branches.

“But if you speak to someone in Milton Keynes they just assume they have a local branch that started up there – no matter how many times you tell someone that we’re a national chain, they’re still under the impression that they have Saks in their area and that’s it.

“We’ve got a real feel good factor in our 40th year and we feel like we want to get out there and let people know about the Saks story and who we are.”