Legendary Kettering barber Vince celebrates 10 years as the boss

A Kettering barber who worked his way up from Saturday boy to owner is celebrating a decade in charge.

Vince Geranio was aged just 10 when he got a job washing hair, sweeping up and going to the chip shop to get his Hawthorn Road colleagues lunch in the late '70s.

He completed an apprenticeship and stayed on before his dream came true and he bought the salon, which is now called Vince's Barbers. And on Thursday (September 10) the 53-year-old marked 10 years as the boss.

He joked he would have to be carried out in a box before he retired.

Vince said: "I love my job and I'm still as keen now as I was when I was 18."

The first person he employed when he took over was Margaret Bradford, who still works there today on the chair next to him

She said: "Vince is a great boss - he treats us very well and we are like a little family."

Over the four decades he's been there Vince has seen hairstyles drastically change.

When he first started many opted for longer locks and mullets before fashion, and the hair of celebrity footballers, changed with shorter hair now the popular cut.

And hairstyles aren't the only change he's seen - there's now far more men in the trade than when he started.

Vince said: "Barbering has changed a lot. There's a lot of shops now and there's some very, very good barbers around the town.

"There's a lot of young lads doing it now which is great.

"When I first started there was only a few barbers who were blokes."

The Covid-19 pandemic has meant 2020 has not quite been the year Vince was hoping for.

Having only ever taken time off work for holidays the lockdown meant he was forced to go months without cutting the hair of his loyal customers or enjoying the banter that flies around the salon.

When lockdown restrictions were eased on July 4 Vince turned up to work at 4.45am to find a queue of punters waiting for a post-lockdown trim.

And he said many of his customers, having attempted to keep their hair tidy at home with a pair of scissors, seem much more appreciative of the skills his team possess.

Vince thanked his loyal customers for their continued support.

He said: "It's been a strange year and we were incredibly busy when we first opened.

"It's a very different world at the minute but we are happy to be back and so are our customers."

Poppies-mad Vince no longer has to ask for permission to sneak off and watch Kettering Town on a Saturday afternoon.

Over the years he's cut the hair of local football icons including Carl Alford and Carl Shutt as well as former England cricketer Ronnie Irani, who he met on Talksport radio.

But there was one famous barnet he didn't get to cut.

All-time great Paul Gascoigne only lasted for 39 days as Poppies manager, and didn't manage to squeeze in a haircut with Vince.

Vince said: "I would have loved to have cut his hair. That would have been a dream."

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