New Dagenham tattoo parlour is a cut above the rest
Tattoo artist Kevin Haggis has opened a unisex hair stylist with attached tattoo parlour. Pictured with Vikki Cox and Sammie Aubrey - Credit: Archant
A tattoo artist has departed from the stereotype of dingy parlours with a light-filled, modern workspace.
Kevin Haggis has teamed up with business partner Bill Stratford to transform Sweeney’s barbershop in Becontree Avenue, Dagenham, into a unisex hairdresser with a tattoo parlour on the side.
“We wanted to do something that no one’s done before, there’s nothing like this here,” explained Kevin of Sammie’s Unisex Hair Salon Empire Ink, which launched at the end of last month.
“Clients can have their hair done and have tattoos done in the same visit.”
The internal transformation is dramatic – from a dark, airless shop to a salon fitted with gold, copper and white tiles.
You may also want to watch:
Sammie Aubrey, a stylist from Dagenham, will manage the salon while Kevin will be in charge of his eclectic parlour through a glass panel.“In my room there are skulls everywhere,” laughed the 36-year-old, of Tilbury. “I’ve got all sorts of things there to keep the client’s mind off the procedure.”
The dad-of-two believes the business has the potential to grow.
Most Read
- 1 Man stabbed in front of son, 12, in 'unprovoked, violent' attack in Barking
- 2 Election 2021: Live updates for GLA seat and Thames by-election
- 3 Jailed: Man whose drunken knife attack left one dead and woman injured at Dagenham dinner party
- 4 Appeal to help find missing girl who may be in Dagenham, Ilford or Stratford
- 5 Chadwell Heath woman fined after not reporting Iron Age coin find
- 6 Barking shisha bar was wrongly shut down for Covid breaches, owner claims
- 7 Guilty: 'Depraved' rapist who targeted and robbed lone women at night
- 8 12 countries announced on travel green list from May 17
- 9 Meet the candidates battling for votes in the Thames ward by-election
- 10 Man shot in the face in Dagenham
“Hopefully we’ll get to expand,” he said. “In a few years we want to open in Brentwood and Brighton, they’re up-and-coming areas.
“This isn’t a biker, dodgy, rock and roll tattoo place, it’s more of a fashionable place to go.”
Kevin was first inspired to take up his passion professionally with the birth of his first child in 2009.
“I thought, how can I tell my boy to follow his dreams when I don’t follow mine?”
To find out more search Sammies Unisex Salon Empire Ink on Facebook, or call 020 8127 8680.
