‘We wanted to bring something new to Farsley’: Meet the mum-and-daughter duo behind new Leeds salon

A mother-and-daughter hairdressing duo have opened a new salon in Farsley, marking a fresh start after years of building their career in the local area.

Charlotte Boyes and her mum, Julie Ingham, opened their doors to Posers last week, combining decades of experience to bring a new independent salon to the community.

But for Charlotte, the opening represents much more than a new business, having lost her previous salon during the Covid pandemic and spent years working to rebuild her career.

Lockdown brought her career to an abrupt halt, with financial pressures eventually forcing her to close the salon.

Charlotte told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “Everything just stopped in lockdown.

“We were unable to work, and from the few grants that we did get, we were required to repay a percentage of it, as well as tax.

“But we weren’t open, so we couldn’t pay it back, it was an awful decision but I just had to close the doors.”

Afterwards, she rented space in other salons, worked from home for around a year and eventually moved into a shared independent salon while searching for somewhere of her own.

Having spent around a year looking for the right premises, she finally found the opportunity to start again in Farsley.

As a single mum, Charlotte said taking the leap was not without its challenges, particularly without the financial security of a partner to fall back on.

She said: “It’s all on me. That’s why it’s taken a long time to come back, re-emerge and do it again.”

Now, working alongside her mum, the pair hope to create a welcoming space for customers, drawing on their combined experience and longstanding connections to the area.

“We’re a mother-and-daughter salon, but we’re also best friends,” Charlotte said.

Julie, who has more than 40 years of experience in hairdressing, said she and Charlotte have always worked well together.

Having grown up in Farsley, she said the area holds a special place in the family’s heart, with both her daughters having grown up locally.

Julie told the YEP: “We know a lot of people here, and we love the way it is now evolving. There’s so much going on.”

Charlotte said she wanted the salon to complement Farsley’s growing independent scene, while ensuring customers never feel intimidated by the experience of getting their hair done.

She said: “You don’t want something that’s classed as a high-end salon, but people are just too intimidated to come in, because that’s not what we’re about.

“There’s new bars and restaurants that are coming into Farsley which have a new, vibrant energy, and I wanted to give the same thing back with a salon.”

Alongside hairdressing and extensions, the salon also offers specialist hair loss support, an area Charlotte is particularly passionate about.

She hopes to offer women a place where they can seek advice and support without feeling judged, and for her the most rewarding part of the job is seeing the difference a treatment will make to someone’s confidence.

She said: “Seeing a difference in someone’s confidence after they’ve had the treatment is amazing.

“The whole point of coming to get your hair done is that you want to come out of it and feel beautiful.

“We want our clients to return, to have a good time while they’re here, love what we’ve done and feel better about themselves. That is all we can ask for.”