Five Minutes With… The Hoi Polloi Owner Steven Chapman

How did The Hoi Polloi come into being?

Owning a barber store that is centred in the heart of the local community has been an idea of mine for as long as I can remember. I moved back to the UK after spells living and working in Manchester, London, Cologne, and Singapore. I fell in love with the North East and its laidback, humorous, and unpretentious attitude from the minute I arrived here. It felt like the right place to make my dream a reality and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The concept for The Hoi Polloi has been taken from my 10 years working around the world. I have taken influence from different cultures and work aspects to create an environment that is comfortable, welcoming and unintimidating.

You set up shop in Newcastle just before the pandemic forced so many businesses to close. What do you think helped The Hoi Polloi to weather the storm?

Moving from steady employment and resettling in an unknown area of the UK was a daunting thought to begin with, then the pandemic arrived five weeks after opening our doors and totally wrecked our launch plans. 

Battling through COVID-19, we managed to grow the brand during various lockdowns. I was busy digitally connecting with business owners across the city – looking at ways we could collaborate and mutually benefit our customer base for when restrictions lifted. This led to us sparking great friendships with good local businesses which culminated in us running a ‘Celebrate Newcastle’ competition including Meat:Stack, Wylam Brewery, Union, Kork, Mother Mercy and Pink Lane Coffee. For us that showed a real unity between local businesses which is something we value greatly.

In what was such a dark time for everyone, we placed a lot of our energy into reaching out to people online – checking in with clients who had visited us, sharing positivity on social media and putting a plan in place for when the lockdowns had lifted, we could connect with our clients – many of whom we’re lucky to call friends now.

Newcastle and the wider region are lucky to have such a healthy variety of independent stores – led by marvellous people who have great ideas, are passionate about their offering and importantly, take time to look out for one another.

You’re big on community and wellbeing at The Hoi Polloi. Can you tell us a bit more about this?

We are a firm believer in a high-quality, holistic approach to everything within our Hoi Polloi premises and small details are a key aspect of our offering. Whether it’s our signature incense scent, the warm greeting and beverage from Pink Lane Coffee or beer from Full Circle Brew, or the fact that we offer silent treatments for those affected by autism, ADHD or sensory difficulties, everything is geared towards taking good care of people who walk through our doors.

I’m a firm believer that a well-thought-out barber store run by good people can transcend a typical brick-and-mortar barber service. Me and the boys strive daily to be a beacon for positive human energy and have placed a great deal of energy into creating initiatives such as our popular weekly run club to spread a sense of community and well-being.

From our conversations with our clients, we have learned so much about them, their lives, loved ones, interests and dislikes. It’s been enlightening really – listening first-hand to people in ways we can expand our offer and how we can improve their experience.

A good example of this was our Christmas 2024 pop-up stores that we held. Over a few weekends, we invited friends of the store such as H.E Sports, Common Ilke and RE:BOURN to showcase their products in our store during the busy Christmas period. It worked a treat, with friends and new faces coming down to check it out, support local businesses and unite people.

What made you decide to enter the Modern Barber Awards?

The Hoi Polloi, our team, and our offering and been on a transformative journey since opening. It felt like the natural time to take stock ahead of some pretty cool announcements we have coming, celebrate the wonderful work that everyone has put in and see where The Hoi Polloi stands against the best in the business.

You’ve been nominated in not one, not two but three categories – Business Leader, Client Experience and Team. What do you think it was about The Hoi Polloi that stood out to the award judges?

An underhand payment to the judges, ha! In all seriousness, we were totally transparent in our award entries and detailed the positives and some of the difficulties that not many know about when it comes to operating a barber store. I believe that we can only learn and then improve by being totally honest with ourselves – so perhaps that transparency, honesty and the level of detail is what caught the judge's eye?

What does it mean to you to be nominated?

For us it feels special. To get recognised for the hard work we put in daily by one of the industry-leading publications feels great. I feel like it’s the first step and the real celebrations will come if we win the awards but even to be nominated is great. I believe we are the only North East company in the awards so it feels great to be representing the region and we hope we can show how great it is up here.

How did you celebrate being nominated?

I think the celebrations will happen at the awards ceremony. We are all travelling to the awards show so will be good to all get suited and booted and have a great night out as a team. These things feel special when we can do it together. We previously won two awards a few years back but that was during Covid so I had to travel alone. I can’t wait to bring the boys with me and celebrate in style this time. Fingers crossed for the win!

You must be really proud of your team. Will you all be attending the awards ceremony together?

Shoutout to Sam, Dan S, Scotty, Dan P, Jack P, Jack R, Nick and Sam T!

This achievement wouldn’t be a reality without the boys. They are wonderfully talented barbers, they all have an exquisite eye for detail, great creativity and a fabulous attitude that makes the 5:00 am alarms every morning so worth it. What’s more important, is that yes, they’re outstanding barbers, but they’re even better people. It’s a pleasure to work alongside them and I’m so pleased to be a part of their journey as they are a major chapter in The Hoi Polloi’s story.

Me and the boys will be travelling down to the ceremony together on June 23rd and are so excited to be together as a group, and have a laugh and a few beers before hopefully bringing three awards back to the North East!

The Hoi Polloi is located 13 Nun Street, Newcastle upon Tyne and is open Tuesday-Saturday. Find out more at www.wearethehoipolloi.com.