1,186. That’s how many towns there are in the United Kingdom. Recently, out of those 1,186, my hometown Stanley ranked in the bottom 7 for their beauty.
Receiving a score of 28/50 after being ranked on historic architecture, views, shop fronts, low traffic/litter and greenery, Stanley falls below over 1,175 other towns.
This kind of ranking could be seriously damaging to not only the community, but also small businesses who rely on local reputations to survive.
An example of this could be MLH Hairdressing, who operate on Stanley Front Street.
Despite this ranking, Marcia, who owns MLH Hairdressing, told me that she doesn’t feel that it has made that large of an impact on the business.
In fact, she believes that it “has been voted from a superficial perspective”, and to her, the area is full of “beautiful, kindhearted people”. Clearly, despite reviews, Stanley holds much more than what is expected.
MLH Hairdressing is a hairdressing business that runs on a pre-booking basis, with customers booking their appointments up to 8 weeks in advance.
This allows customers to book the most convenient slot for them, and also to perhaps book the same appointments as other customers that they are familiar with.
This allows the salon to be more of a community, with everyone from employees to customers being friendly and familiar with each other.
However, no business goes without its struggles. Marcia, being a mother of two children, described how she can feel pressures of running her own business and finding enough time for her family.
Although, one of the only other major issues Marcia can find is that they are at full capacity, which isn’t necessarily only an issue, as it also means that the business is flourishing.
Considering that there are approximately 5.6 million small businesses in the UK, there must be advantages to owning them.
For Marcia, it’s the people. She feels that her customers are amazing and that she works with great people too.
This business allows Marcia to fulfil her love of meeting new people, and also gives her the rewarding feeling of being able to have customers leave the salon feeling a bit better and more confident.
Whilst the business is currently at full capacity, Marcia does not have any plans to change the business in the near future.
She says that she has a brilliant landlord and that she’s comfortable and happy in her current premises.
Although, this does not mean that the business will only ever stay as it is, as she does feel that MLH Hairdressing may outgrow its current premises.
However, this doesn’t mean that it’ll outgrow Stanley, as Marcia has stated that “any moves in the distant future would never be away from Stanley Main Street”.
Clearly, looks aren’t everything, especially for this town.
Falling in the bottom 7 in the country for beauty doesn’t define Stanley, as businesses just like MLH Hairdressing are able to make a place like this more beautiful.
