A Lynn business is celebrating keeping men well-groomed for eight decades.

Mr Snippers, on St James Street, was founded shortly after the Second World War by Bill Pratt and George Coldham.

The gentleman’s barbering business was then known as Pratt & Coldham and was located in a busy part of town.

Later on in 1959, 15-year-old Colin King started his barbering apprenticeship after leaving school.

This is where Colin, now 81, would spend the rest of his career, before passing on his scissors to his eldest son, Andrew.

“I wanted to be a hairdresser since I was eight years old. My teacher told me off and said that I shouldn’t want to do that,” Colin said.

“I had a Saturday job here before leaving school, as did my son Andrew.”

Shortly after Colin joined the profession, Pratt & Coldham expanded and opened a second barbershop on Broad Street.

In 1969, George Coldham retired, and Colin joined in partnership with Bill Pratt. The business was then known as Pratt & King.

During this time, the business’ Broad Street premises was compulsory purchased due to the modernisation of the area. Meanwhile, business in St James Street “continued to flourish”.

The partnership between the two continued until the early 1980s when Mr Pratt became unwell and passed away.

With Colin now as the sole owner of the business, he acquired some land at the rear of the property and extended and modernised the salon.

That is when he renamed the salon to what it is known as today, Mr Snippers.

In 1986, Andrew joined Mr Snippers as a member of staff, and later took on the business when his dad retired during the Covid pandemic.

Andrew said business is still booming, despite the area of town becoming quieter over the years.

“We get a good flow of customers, but obviously not as busy as it was when the market was open,” he said.

During his 60-year hairdressing career, Colin has seen a lot of changes happen to men’s hairstyles, as well as Lynn town centre itself.

“You just progress and always learn about different cutting, styling and artwork that comes in,” he said.

“Lynn has changed a lot. We were once looking at a busy market on the Saturday Market Place. You could look over and decide what veg to buy.

A team of seven barbers were once employed at Mr Snippers, which was reduced to three after Covid.

As well as training his son Andrew, Colin also trained the current Mr Snippers barbers, Adam Manning and George Povey.

The trio offer “first-class barbering”, cutting, styling and artwork in the air-conditioned salon.

However, despite being retired, Colin is no stranger to the business and often pops in.

“I miss cutting hair. I loved it, and I still do,” he said.

Reflecting on the business staying put in Lynn for eight decades, Colin said: “How many shops in Lynn have been open for this many years?

“You do not hear of it, there must be a reason why we have been open for so long.”

Mr Snippers does not have a booking system as the team finds that walk-in appointments work best with customers.

The shop is open from 8am until 4.30pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 8am until 5.30pm Thursday and Friday. On Saturdays, it opens at 6am until 2.30pm.