We launched the first version of this website 10 years ago last August, the same year as the last Solar Eclipse visible in the UK.
Although we had always sold products in our Barber Shop it was the move into larger premises in 1996 that meant we had the space to really expand our ranges and stock a greater variety of products. Over the next couple of years we had many overseas visitors who requested a mail order catalogue so that we could send them products after they had returned home, eventually mentioning that we ought to have a website. At this point we didn’t have a computer, but I do have an O level in computer studies dating back to 1981, when computers needed a dedicated room!
So in April 1999 Charlotte and I took our children on a family holiday to Malta along with the magazine, “web pages made easy” and the book ” An idiots guide to Windows 98″. After this fantastic holiday we bought our first computer from Dell and started building a site using “Frontpage Express“, launching the first site in August 1999 using the url www.barbershop.co.uk. Our first order arrived the following month and as they say the rest is history.
This is currently our tenth version of the website, still powered by Actinic software and managed by Charlotte and myself. We now however have seven computers here at Charnham House, but still aim to offer the same personal service to our web customers that we extend to visitors here in Hungerford.
Since our first endeavour in the world of internet retailing there have been countless “male grooming” websites operating from bedrooms and sheds across the UK, but still only one Gentleman’s Shop.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
Hello from Hungerford!
You would be most welcome, thank you.
Regards, Robert