A founding father of Liverpool's beauty scene is drawing near its 50th anniversary. Voodou on Bold Street dominates the street with its striking punk aesthetic and towering fascia. The majority of us will have grown up with the hair salon in the city centre but its origins can be traced to a tiny unit in Breck Road.
The very first Voodou opened its doors back in 1976 under the name of Robert Michael. The entrepreneur behind the store was neither a leading industry expert nor even someone with business experience, it was a fresh-faced graduate named Rob Webb who dreamed of owning his own salon. At the age of 18 and with only two years of hairdressing knowledge under his belt, Rob set out to make his dream a reality.
He told the ECHO: "I borrowed £1,000 from my uncle. I told him what I planned to do and he wondered if he'd ever get the money back. He was great with me.
I offered to pay interest but he wouldn't let me. "I was never diagnosed with dyslexia but I never got on with school. I struggled quite a bit.
So to go straight from school to starting a business was a foolish idea. It was the naivety of a young person to go and do what I did. I wouldn't recommend it but it worked out.
"£1000 didn't go a long way even back then. The shop opened in a poor state and I begged and borrowed everything for it. The state of the hair dryers and machines was a joke but I did what I had to do.
" The business flourished despite its hard surroundings. may not be the garden you'd expect a s.
