Midhurst salon celebrates 40 years on high street

The hair salon has been open for business for 40 years as of this month (February 2024). You can find Expressions on Rumbolds Hill, Midhurst.

Owner of the salon Stephen Cooney said: “It’s gone ever so fast that time and it’s been amazing. It’s quite a milestone that we have been able to reach 40 years.”

Stephen Cooney originally wanted to get into car racing whilst at school. His school did a day at Chichester College to look at different departments and he liked the look of hairdressing.

The Expressions salon owner added: “I also wanted my own business, that was important to me. I worked for a hairdresser called Malcolm in Selsey whilst I was doing my training and stayed for around nine years. I ended up moving to Miami living with my relatives and worked there for 12 months. After that, I moved back to England and decided I wanted to set up shop somewhere. I went everywhere trying to find a salon. I ended up just looking for any shops on the market that I could redo into a salon. I even looked at an old fish and chip shop at one point! I walked into this art supply store in Midhurst and it just felt good to me, that’s what started the business and got it going all that time ago.”

Isabel Drayson has been a long-time customer of Expressions, and spoke about how long she had been going there. She said: “I first went to see Stephen when I was 28, and I’m 59 now. I’ve been there for 31 years!

"When I originally first went to get a haircut there, I had just had a terrible haircut in Southampton and I’d recently moved to Midhurst. I asked him if he could fix my hair at a fairly late time in the day and he sorted it.

“The rest is history. My kids had their first haircuts there and still go there today, my husband goes too, so it’s a real family affair. Stephen is really part of the high street, everyone respects him and his staff are lovely. Massive congratulations to him and everyone there.”