HOB Salon

The first HOB salon opened here in 1983 (if the website is to be believed), although the current salon doesn’t seem to be on the original site.
It’s a little pricey and always very busy, but at the same time the staff are all very professional, all the stations are clean, they always find a way to fit you in, and they provide quality services. I can’t speak for the other HOB salons (I think they’ve expanded to approximately 20 salons around London), but I believe the reason they are able to offer a consistently high level of service at the Mill Hill salon is because of their training academy. All their stylists have to spend some time at the HOB training academy, so you can be sure that each one has accredited training and experience.
I used to get my hair cut by Danny many years ago, but he’s no longer with HOB. Most recently I had my hair dyed by Desiré and then blow-​dried by Fergle. Desiré didn’t do as full a consultation as I would have liked, however I was only asking for an all-​over semi-​permanent colour so it wasn’t a big deal. She was a bit boring as stylists go; that being said, I wasn’t paying her to be entertaining but to do a good job, and the colour came out very well indeed. Fergle encapsulates everything you expect of a male hairstylist, and he understood exactly what kind of blow dry I wanted. I felt so comfortable in his hands, I booked a hair cut with him as soon as the appointment was over.
The overall result was what I wanted: a nice plummy red colour and a flirty blow dry. The price was a little more than necessary: 63 pounds for the colour and blow dry, which is why I have dropped one star. I have dropped another star on account of the quality of service… I know, I know, I spent two sentences describing the service as GOOD above, but it’s not EXCELLENT. Yes, you can trust everyone in the salon to do an adequate job, but I’ve never had anyone there do an EXCELLENT job (except for my old stylist, Danny, who is no longer there). You’d expect that a salon with so many other branches and it’s own training academy would produce brilliant stylists, however it seems the ones who are that good use their HOB training to eventually work somewhere else.
Still, if you need a solid hair cut, colour or blow dry, and you don’t mind spending your pennies, this place does the job.