Bermudian barber earns top UK award and eyes national title after years of honing his craft
A Bermudian barber has taken his talents from a childhood passion to an international stage, earning top honours in the UK and turning heads in more ways than one.
Kurvin Spence set up shop a couple of years ago in Nottingham as a full-time barber, with his talents recently winning him first place in England’s Business Awards regional final.
To his surprise, his business, TopKuttz, was nominated by a customer, and he credits his level of service for coming out on top.
“I take care of customers,” Mr. Spence said. “I treat them nice. I give them a good haircut, treat them with manners, professionalism. I treat it like an actual business, not just a barber shop, and I guess someone noticed this and they nominated me. It means so much. It just shows that hard work pays off.”
Mr. Spence has now advanced to the next stage of the competition, where he could be up for Best Barber in England overall later this year.
He cited his faith, the support of his wife, and setting a high standard of service as key to his success, which has seen him win several awards over his career.
Mr. Spence has been a barber for most of his life, following in his late father’s footsteps at just 10 years old at the family business, Shabazz Barber Shop, later Spence Hair Designs.
“My late father had a barber shop and beauty salon from when I was a little boy. So around ten years old, I was always in there, used to sweep the floor and clean up the shop, take the trash out and everything, and he asked me, do you want to start cutting hair? And I’m like, of course, let’s do this. So I started at 10 years old. I was actually too short to cut people’s hair, so I had to get a little stool. He taught me, and many other barbers in Bermuda.”
At 13 years old, he was featured in the American publication Jet Magazine as, at that time, the world’s youngest barber.
Nine years ago, he relocated to the UK and fell back in love with the trade after working in the utility sector.
Now, he is almost fully booked every week and has cut the hair of professional boxers, YouTubers, football players, and models.
One of his first customers was actually Shaun Goater, MBE, the Manchester City FC legend, who he attended Whitney Institute with.
Looking ahead, he is eager to pass the clippers on to the next generation by teaching others the toolkit of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
“I would really want to teach barbering. That’s one thing I have to do before I retire, is teach barbering. And I like to teach it the way I do it, the whole package, not just barbering, because there’s the business side of it. You’re not just a barber – you’re an entrepreneur. You’re responsible for your own finances, responsible for your family, you’re responsible for the business, you’re responsible for customers. So I like to teach all of that.”
And his message to others is simple.
“Anyone that’s aspiring to do something, go for it. If you need a mentor, get a mentor. I know it’s so cliché to say you have one life, but it’s true. You have one life to live. Just go for what you want, and you have to stick to it. Just stick to it and things will come. You will reap the rewards.”
