Into the Spotlight, sponsored by Huddersfield-based Scriba PR, is a weekly business feature which highlights lesser-known businesses that generally go under the radar. Here, we meet Linda Holmes, of LJ Hair, a luxury styling salon based in the heart of Marsh.
For many of us, lockdown boredom spurred a string of entirely new ventures to invest our time into.
But not for Marsh’s Linda Holmes, whose zest for hair styling saw her transform her baby boutique – and balloon emporium – to an elegant and decorous salon in the heart of her hometown after a three-year hiatus from the industry.
Upon losing her husband in 2018, Linda closed the chapter on the challenging time and vowed never to return to hair styling, uprooting from her Bradford salon and returning to her hometown of Marsh in order to be closer to family.
However, craving the ‘buzz’ that her time in retail simply did not fulfil, in April this year, she felt there was no better time to rediscover her passion.
Situated within the hustle and bustle of Westbourne Road, LJ Hair boasts a closely considered interior of warm neutral paints and furnishings – complimented with greenery and botanicals – to emphasise the salon’s commitment to relaxation and comfort.
“That’s the kind of experience I want visitors to have – not to feel rushed in any way, they should feel totally welcome throughout.” says Linda.
With bags of experience, there’s nothing that Linda isn’t capable of, though she does emphasise pride in her classic neutral balayage and suggests that this is what the largest proportion of LJ Hair clients are yearning for these days.
It’s not just the job itself, however, that Linda loves – talking of Marsh’s demographic versatility, she celebrates the range of character interactions that her job affords: “Some days I can serve, say, an 80-year-old followed by a seventeen-year-old. I get to meet all kinds of people.”
Although there is certainly a plethora of reasons why the pandemic has been pretty gruelling to say the least, it’s the community spirit and what Linda describes as the ‘buzz’ of Marsh – and its neighbouring areas – that make both the transition back to normality, and challenges of running an independent business, that little bit easier.
LJ Hair’s website is still in the works, but you can find more information or support Linda by following her pages on Facebook and Instagram.
