Porth's Barber Boom: Too Many Cuts?

0:00On April 20th, in the small South Wales town of Porth, you've got 14 hair salons for just 4,000 residents, meaning one barber for every. 426 people, locals say you never wait for a cut because places are ghost towns. A recent check found shops pulling in barely any cash, like one spot making just 48 pounds from 4 haircuts between 9.30am and 2. PM on a Wednesday, other barbers down the street saw even less action, with one stylus waiting over 2 hours without a single client. These spots look slick, with fancy chairs and music bumping, but staff admit Wednesdays are dead quiet, and the math just doesn't add up for paying. Bills or wages above minimum. Folks in town are side eyeing the boom, especially after locals in the Chamber of Trade fought a new salon opening in an old arcade. They sent 34 objection letters, worried about too many identical shops killing diversity. No proof of wrongdoing here, but suspicions linger from national raids last year that

1:00busted hundreds of barbers for money laundering, drugs, and slagery. Earlier this week, the UK government promised councils new powers to block clusters of barbers, vapes, and similar spots. Officials like housing secretaries Steve Reed say communities spot the red flags when empty shops pop up, and now they can act before trouble brews. This chamberhead plans to push the Welsh government post-election for tighter planning rules, aiming to mix up the high street and ease those. nagging doubts for good.