Barber makes 'shop local' plea after business blow

Daren Wayland has shut part of his family business after struggling financially during 2024

A barber has urged people to support independent businesses after he had to close part of his own.

Daren Wayland established The Coffee Barber in Cliff Lane, Ipswich, in 2019, offering both hair-cutting and a coffee shop.

However, after a difficult 2024, he said he had made a "heavy decision" to close the coffee shop side.

"If you love somewhere you need to support them as much as your purse [or] wallet allows because small businesses really do run on the breadline," he said.

Mr Wayland said the "peak and troughs" of running the business through the cost-of-living crisis had left it struggling.

"It got to a point where you need two people to run it. The wages involved with that, it cost us money, basically, to run the shop. It was very difficult."

Mr Wayland said it had initially taken "a long time for the community to realise our concept", but once they did, the business had found loyal customers.

Despite surviving the Covid-19 pandemic partly thanks to grants, Mr Wayland said he had feared for his business during this time.

"I don't mind saying I wept. I thought that was my business gone," he added.

The barber's shop side of Mr Wayland's business will remain open

He explained that the coffee shop had had a "difficult" 2024.

"The truth was last April we made a big loss on the coffee shop side, but I was proud to be paying my family: my wife, my daughter Mia, who worked full-time, my daughter Eva, who worked on Saturdays, and even my son Jacob who helped out as well," he said.

"We were proud, but we made a loss. It cost us from the barber side to prop up the coffee side."

Mr Wayland said many independent businesses were also struggling.

"Without that support, like what has happened to us, you go under," he said.