'My city needs a regeneration movement'

A businessman from Stoke-on-Trent is calling for firms to create a "regeneration movement" to take advantage of opportunities in the city.

Leeroy Chax was 19 years old when he started his first barber shop while at Staffordshire University.

At the age of 30, he now has three barbers, a salon, a hairdressing academy, a tattoo studio, a recruitment agency and a cocktail bar - employing 30 people.

"If things are closing, we can focus on what we can open. I just feel like we need that regeneration movement," he said.

The entrepreneur called for a business rates holiday for new tenants in Hanley, as well as incentives for large national firms to move to the area.

He suggested free parking and building new apartments could also help the city.

The city council has already outlined plans to regenerate the area, securing £56m of government money to accelerate three development projects.

The immigrant from Zimbabwe spoke after recent unrest which saw riot police on the city's streets become a topic of conversation in the barbers’ chair.

"If you look at my staff, they are all from different cultures and our customers as well," Mr Chax said.

He and his family made Stoke their home in 2002, when he was eight years old.

"They have always told me I can achieve anything through hard work," he said.

In 2014, while studying sports science, Mr Chax was also learning barbering from the only black barber in his area.

When the owner of Stoke Barbers became unwell and closed his shop, he realised there was a gap in the market he could fill and opened his first shared barber shop in Hanley with funding from The Prince's Trust.

In 2017, he branched out on his own and continued to expand his brand to include selling merchandise.

He told the BBC that lockdown was the toughest stage of his business career and it was "scary" closing his shop.

The last year has been the most fruitful, having expanded his businesses to include Desire cocktail bar, two more Chax barber shops, a tattoo studio and Unique hair academy.

"I work seven days a week, finding staff and managing staff is difficult," Mr Chax said.

"I feel there are opportunities in the city."

Stoke-on-Trent’s central location is why he believes there is scope for growth.

"I want to use our cocktail bar to invite well known music artists to perform," he said.

He is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with celebrities, having cut the hair of actor Michael Ward from Netflix drama Top Boy and footballers Eric Choupo-Moting and Robbie Earle.

The entrepreneur's career is a far cry from his teenage dream of being a footballer.

At 16, he represented England as part of an international youth team which won gold in France.

One of his teammates, Joshua Luke Gordon went on to play football professionally for Walsall.

Mr Chax is passionate about helping young people, offering apprenticeships and using his recording studio to help get young people off the street.

"I started a free service called Barz and Cutz to help teens make music an outlet for their pain," he said, having helped 60 artists so far.

The 30-year-old credits his African roots for his charitable nature.

"I offer free haircuts to homeless people all year around and my shops are open to them to come anytime for a cup of tea. What’s the point of having blessings if you cannot share with others?" he said.

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