Is SALT the future of cult London hair salons?

At 13 Stoney Street in Borough Market, on the south side of the river Thames, an unexpected resident has moved into the capital’s oldest food market. You won’t find ramekins of whipped butter here, nor chunks of chewy sourdough and slivers of anchovy served on spenny small plates. Instead, opening right on the doorstep of the tourist-friendly foodie mecca, is the second outpost of SALT.

​“I’ve always had a love affair with Borough Market,” says John Paul ​“JP” Scott, founder of this community-led spin on the cult London salon experience. He explains how SALT arrived there in August, five years after the inaugural salon opened in Dalston’s Gillett Square. Though SALT launched in East London with only two cutting chairs, Scott’s goal from the outset was to focus on the vibes beyond the chairs – on the people who make a hair salon what it is.

As well as recruiting killer cutters, that also meant speaking to London’s creative scenes. So, as it was in Dalston, music is an integral part of the new salon space – a foundational element of the SALT experience that speaks to the fact that Scott himself DJs and releases records. (Under the name Losian, tracks He’s My Brother and Marian Court debuted on Rhythm Section’s subsidiary label International Black. Scott also ran the UK Garage and Jungle club night Joyride Dance Club between 2013 and 2018 with friend John Joseph Holt, the founder of LAW Magazine.)

​“Clubbing has been deeply important for me,” says the 36-year-old Londoner. ​“Some of the first times I ever told a friend ​‘I love you’ were in a club. It was healing. That energy of music and connection is something I wanted to bring into SALT.”

In developing the Borough salon, Scott collaborated with architecture firm Unknown Works (who also designed the legendary Vortex Jazz Club in Gillet Square). Bespoke sound system studio Friendly Pressure created a space-age ​“sound wall” for the first floor, using stainless steel recycled from the V&A and Science Museum’s former archive facility. ​“Sound was central to shaping the space,” says Ben Hayes, co-founder of Unknown Works. ​“SALT Borough is flexible for different types of events, but also operates really well as a salon.”

​“What makes SALT unique is that JP understands both music and stillness – when to create energy and when to allow calm,” adds Shivas Howard Brown of Friendly Pressure. ​“As we worked on the project, friends kept saying: ​‘Oh my God, you’re building the system for SALT? That’s where I get my hair done – they’re the best!’ The energy around the project has been incredibly serendipitous.”

Ultimately, this evolved the OG SALT into a hybrid salon and private event space, with a devoted clientele from every corner of London. ​“Clients in South London kept asking if we would open a SALT there,” says Scott. But with Borough Market sitting right on the river, and being hugely food-focused “[so] there weren’t any hair salons there, I doubted anyone would take the idea seriously”.

Borough Market, though, is one of the few areas in London run by a board of charitable trustees, a valuable and necessary counterweight to private, buy-to-let landlords and commercial property developers. ​“The Act of Parliament from 1754 that helped establish Borough Market in its current form stated that the Market must remain ​‘an estate for the use and benefit’ of the local community ​‘forever’”, reads its website. ​“Ultimately, their responsibility is to pass on the Market to the next generation in the best possible shape.”

Oblivious to this, Scott had contacted, on a whim, one of the estate agents who works in tandem with the trustees. He discovered that both 18^th century history and luck were on his side.

​“A three-storey space in a Victorian-era listed building, previously used as an office, had just become available. We were asked to view it. We never thought we could afford it, not in a million years. But my wife Iona and I went anyway, almost for a laugh,” he says. After admitting to the agent that the rent was beyond their budget, the couple received an unexpected call. ​“Borough Market was so impressed by our vision that they offered us the space with discounted rent, which made it possible for us. I’ve lived in London my whole life and never had anything like this happen to me – I couldn’t believe it.”

SALT’s brand proposition is rooted in Scott’s experiences of growing up in North London. He was, as he puts it, ​“a troubled kid” who struggled in school and was ultimately expelled. ​“But I was always creative, into style, music and subculture.” In 2005, aged 15, he was working in gardening and landscaping when, one day, he walked past a hair salon. ​“Inside were young people with amazing hair in wild colours, clothes – and they were playing music I loved,” he recalls, smiling. ​“I walked in and got my first job on the salon floor.”

What he freely admits was a turbulent start in the industry (Scott was fired from two jobs before finding his footing at Hob Salons in Camden, where he ​“worked his socks off”) eventually led to the newly-trained stylist discovering Heads. The teenager found legendary British hairstylist Guido Palau’s book, published in 2000, in the window of a charity shop.

​“Heads is full of these incredible images from the 1990s – Kate Moss, Raf Simons collaborations – all shot in this subtle, intricate way by photographers like David Sims. I bought the book, left it in the staff room, and said: ​‘I’m going to work for this guy one day.’ Obviously, everyone laughed at me.”

But, after a chance encounter with Mark Hampton, one of Palau’s assistants at the time, he was invited to ​“interview”, passing the rigorous process that put him in the running to join his team over fashion week. ​“I was 19, crashing at my mum’s place after a bad breakup, when Guido’s agent texted: ​‘Are you available to come to Paris tomorrow?’ I packed a bag and ended up working on my first Balenciaga show.”

Over the next nine years, Scott cut hair (and his teeth) under Palau. ​“I had moments where I was trusted to work directly with Mrs Prada on looks, or to collaborate with Raf Simons and Virgil Abloh. Those experiences gave me an insight you just can’t get anywhere else. I bring that to every haircut, colour and treatment at SALT.

​“What we do is about more than a haircut. We look at clients as individuals, and we’ve built a diverse team both in backgrounds and in skill sets,” he adds, stressing that this means not just offering styling, cuts and colour, but braiding, textured hair services, barbering and bleaching.

SALT is equally committed to transforming working conditions in the hair industry for the next generation – a vocation that is not only tough mentally but physically, too. ​“Remarkably, it’s one of the most injury-prone industries to work in,” says Scott. ​“I wanted SALT to do better for the next generation.”

Henare Davidson, artistic director across SALT Hackney and SALT Borough, is originally from New Zealand but has been working at SALT for two years. He noticed the impact of Scott’s mission early on. ​“I’d been following SALT on Instagram and reached out when I moved to London,” he says. ​“JP and I met for a coffee and just clicked. What really sets SALT apart is the care for stylists: mental health, physical health, everything. JP makes sure we’re supported, which makes a huge difference.”

From Alex Brownsell’s Bleach to Sharmadean Reid’s WAH Nails, the 2010s set a new standard for London’s salon-goers, fostering cult followings during the halcyon days of Instagram. Today, against the backdrop of the 2020s, SALT’s focus leads more towards IRL, with the interpersonal nature of going to a hair salon shaping all it does.

​“We feel a responsibility to use SALT Borough for the right things,” concludes Scott. ​“I always hate seeing great spaces sit empty after hours. Here, one night it’s a party, the next day an educational workshop, and during the day it’s a salon. The Borough salon will also host talks, listening sessions, film screenings and other culturally-led events. Hopefully, others will take inspiration and create better salons and workspaces everywhere. SALT can’t do it alone!”

This way to book a haircut!