Gloucester couple open hair salon after redundancy from abattoir

A couple who relocated from Romania to Gloucestershire 10 years ago, have opened their own independent hairdressers in Gloucester. They both worked at an abattoir in Newent for years before being made redundant, then decided to embark on an entirely new work venture.

Petrica and Sonia Marin, both 43, from Gloucester, moved to the UK with their then five-year-old son a decade ago. They decided to move to Gloucestershire for a better life as they say there is a lot of 'corruption' in their home country and people have to 'bribe someone with big money' to get a decent job to live in Romania.

Both Petrica and Sonia worked their way up to be managers in an abattoir in Newent before the site closed. Determined to not be disheartened by losing their jobs, they decided Sonia would follow her dream and train to be a hairdresser.

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The couple have opened Miss Beauty Salon LTD, in Southgate Street, in the city centre. Sonia grafted and gained her accreditation as a hairdresser and is qualified in colouring, styling, cutting and treating hair.

Petrica said: "We came in UK 10 years ago, from Romania, to build a better life and a good future for our son, who was five years old at the time. The jobs in Romania were not paid enough to have a decent life.

"You would only earn enough to pay for bills and food and not have anything left over for clothes or anything else for a decent life. There i a lot of corruption and you would have to bribe someone with a lot of money to get a good job.

"Since we have been in Gloucestershire, we worked for the same abattoir company, which was based in Newent. In the 10 years of working there, we have both gained great experience and our performance was recognised.

"This led to us both getting line management positions in different departments of the company. Sadly, in April 2024, the site closed down, and all the staff were made redundant.

"My wife Sonia was always in love with hairdressing. Straight after we had been made redundant, we decided to set up our own family business, and we chose to open a hairdressing salon.

"Sonia started training as a hairdresser, and completed four courses in colouring, styling, cutting and treating, and got her diplomas shortly after. Then we set up the salon in the city centre, close from where we live."

The couple are dedicated to making their business succeed. They are hoping the community of Gloucester will support them on their journey as an independent family business.

Petrica said: "We are expecting that the company will have a slow growth, as there are many salons are around, but with Sonia's devotement and dedication to the business we hope to build a good base of happy customers.

"The salon is currently offering colouring, styling, cutting, hair and scalp treating services. We hope the ladies who come to us go away feeling confident, and beautiful and have a lovely experience at our salon."