HJ CAREERS
adventures of a… SUPER SALON Owner
Salon Owner, Tim Scott Wright is celebrating 30 years in hairdressing, so it was only right we had a chat about his journey so far, and what’s coming up next!
“My mum and dad didn’t know I’d started my hair career until six weeks later. It was only when they questioned why I was getting dressed so smartly for college that I had to tell them,” Tim Scott Wright tells us as we chat about his journey into the industry. However, three months into his college course, he was kicked out for continuously skiving and taking his friends to the pub! Which is how he ended up walking into Umberto Giannini’s salon on a random Thursday in 1995 and asking for a job as a hairdressing apprentice. “He said, ‘Well you can come in for a trial tomorrow’ and so I did. A week later, I was in the salon.”
At that time, Umberto had just opened the Umberto Giannini Academy, and Tim was the first person to graduate. “I completed my hairdressing qualification in nine months – it was something that just felt natural to me.” Umberto was a great advocate for HJ's British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional, and Tim was soon introduced to the competition world. “I remember going to the awards in 1995/1996 and I was in so much awe,” he tells us. “It was the era of celebrity hairdressers, so for me, seeing Trevor Sorbie, Nicky Clarke, and all these wonderful hairdressers in the same room, was amazing. I said to Umberto, ‘I really want to do this,’ and he told me, ‘If you work hard enough, you can do it’.” Cut to a year later and Tim finalised for Newcomer of the Year -and again in 1998.
From there, Tim began assisting Umberto in London for TV shows and other opportunities. “As a kid who grew up in a council house in a small town in Stourbridge, assisting in London and meeting A-List celebrities made me hungry to do more within the industry.”
After Umberto died in 2001, Tim moved to Lisa Shepherd’s salon in Kidderminster for 10 years, picking up three Midland’s Hairdresser of the Year awards along the way, and becoming the youngest person to enter the British Hairdressing Awards Hall of Fame.
His next venture? Opening his own salon. “By chance, my old doctor’s surgery was coming up for rent, so I went to have a look, and The Hair Surgery was born in 2014!” Since then, Tim has helped grow his team, who have gone on to open their own salons. “That’s how it should be when someone leaves a business; with support from the person you’ve worked for, and I’m proud of that.”
Now, Tim is celebrating 30 years in the industry, working five days a week in the salon. “I open my diary each September and get fully booked a year in advance – my Christmas week for 2026 is already full!” Alongside that, Tim is a Schwarzkopf Professional BlondMe Ambassador, educating up and down the country – something he’s very proud of. And although seeing his name above his salon door was one of his proudest moments, the initial setup was challenging. “I didn’t have a magic fund to open a salon; it was a dream. I remember thinking, ‘How do I do this? And coming back from COVID was a major challenge – I would say it’s set me back five years.” But there’s definitely no stopping Tim. “What’s next for me is to maintain what we do here, making sure I keep a salon-owned business model to train the next generation,” he shares. “More hairdressing awards, more photoshoots, and concentrate on where we’re at now.” Tim also tells us he's exploring the idea of broadening his career with a trichology degree. “I’m very interested in hair loss and how that affects people, so I may do a trichology degree when I have a bit more time.” No skiving off at the pub, please, Tim!