Meet the barber who has set up shop in his back garden - after costs soared too high for him to maintain a high street premises.
Nathan Scotford, 42, from Kent, closed his barber shop nine months ago and now runs Cushty Cuts in a specially-built cabin behind his Folkestone home.
He decided to move his business into his garden after costs skyrocketed by 30 per cent - meaning he would have to make over £2,000 each month before he could even turn over a profit.
The dad-of-three decided this was unsustainable and so when a friend and long-time client suggested he move his business home, he thought he'd give it a go.
Mr Scotford said: "I was coming up to the end of a ten-year leasehold and needed to decide if I wanted to renew it.
"I thought about how bills were going up - and about how the area of Folkestone I was in, which used to be thriving, had been forgotten over the last few years. Bookings weren't booming as much as they were before Covid.
"So I decided it was time for a new project. First, I spent some time hiring out a chair in different barber shops - but when a long-time friend and client said I should just work from home, I thought, 'why not?'"
Mr Scotford built a special 3.6m x 3.6m cabin fitted with brand new electrics and insulation.
It is decorated with his large collection of Only Fools And Horses memorabilia - a show which he says "resonates" with him and his family.
The barber said: "I wanted to provide the same service and ambience to my clients, simply in a different location.
"The cabin is like a mini house - with brand new electrics and insulation - and I've added something that resonates with me and my family with the Only Fools and Horses decorations."
Business has been good so far as Mr Scotford has a loyal base of clients who have followed him in his new venture.
He said: "I don't regret it at all. I absolutely love it.
"I've kept my regular base of customers who have followed me over the last 25 years.
"I couldn't do any of this without them.
"And I've got a 10 metre walk to work. So I'm doing my bit - keeping my commuting emissions down.
"I'm just hoping to continue doing as I am and keep a cushty consistency."
Nathan Scotford, 42, from Kent, closed his barber shop nine months ago and now runs Cushty Cuts in a specially-built cabin behind his Folkestone home.
He decided to move his business into his garden after costs skyrocketed by 30 per cent - meaning he would have to make over £2,000 each month before he could even turn over a profit.
The dad-of-three decided this was unsustainable and so when a friend and long-time client suggested he move his business home, he thought he'd give it a go.
Mr Scotford said: "I was coming up to the end of a ten-year leasehold and needed to decide if I wanted to renew it.
"I thought about how bills were going up - and about how the area of Folkestone I was in, which used to be thriving, had been forgotten over the last few years. Bookings weren't booming as much as they were before Covid.
"So I decided it was time for a new project. First, I spent some time hiring out a chair in different barber shops - but when a long-time friend and client said I should just work from home, I thought, 'why not?'"
Mr Scotford built a special 3.6m x 3.6m cabin fitted with brand new electrics and insulation.
It is decorated with his large collection of Only Fools And Horses memorabilia - a show which he says "resonates" with him and his family.
The barber said: "I wanted to provide the same service and ambience to my clients, simply in a different location.
"The cabin is like a mini house - with brand new electrics and insulation - and I've added something that resonates with me and my family with the Only Fools and Horses decorations."
Business has been good so far as Mr Scotford has a loyal base of clients who have followed him in his new venture.
He said: "I don't regret it at all. I absolutely love it.
"I've kept my regular base of customers who have followed me over the last 25 years.
"I couldn't do any of this without them.
"And I've got a 10 metre walk to work. So I'm doing my bit - keeping my commuting emissions down.
"I'm just hoping to continue doing as I am and keep a cushty consistency."
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FunTranscript
00:00I'm Nathan Scottford. I had a shop in Booth, Folkestone, town centre, Boothbury Road West
00:06for 10 and a half years. Sadly I had to make the decision in the end of September of last year,
00:132023, to move, relocate, and myself and a private investor friend, customer, suggested that we
00:25build this project, which is where we're currently sat. It was supposed to have taken
00:30four to six weeks with the planning and the building. Due to delays, we officially opened
00:38on, well unofficially opened, sorry, on the 24th of July, so two weeks ago. The decision I took to
00:49leave Boothbury Road West was down to the rising utility costs, the decline of business on the
00:57high street, and also my lease I was coming to an end and I didn't want to renegotiate.
01:05I've lived in this house for 18 years and in the last two weeks I finally feel like I've come home.
01:14Now what I mean by that is it's always been my home but I've never felt like it was my home,
01:21i.e. you know like my wife's stuff is there, my clothes were there, but I never really felt a part
01:26of it. Now I have my possessions in a business attached to my home, I feel like I've come home.