Ukrainian fleeing war opens new 'speakeasy' barbershop in Durham
An "almost speakeasy" barbers inside a coffee shop has opened in Durham - run by a Ukrainian and his friend from the North East.
Roman Radchenko who is from from Kremenchuk, Ukraine has opened the Three Blades Club with his good friend Luke Crodden from Ouston. The barbers will be inside Coviello coffee shop on Silver Street, after officially opening on Saturday.
Roman has known Luke for around a year, having moved to the North East from Leicester in May last year. Roman ended up moving to the UK was because of the war in Ukraine.
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He said: "We were affected by the war. My girlfriend, Melanie, was in Kyiv when it started and I was in Europe so I couldn't go back. We decided to move to the UK because we wanted to move forward and improve our lives. We lived in Leicester for eight months before moving to Durham.
"I found Durham to be very nice. There is great architecture and story behind the city. There are so many picturesque views and a lot of nature. I really like the North East, the people are straightforward, real and lovely."
Roman, 26, trained to be a barber in Ukraine when he was 17 before moving to Poland to expand his skills and field of work.
Speaking of the new Durham shop, Luke said: "We initially looked for place at the bottom of North Road, but didn’t like it. We then had a chance meeting with Alberto, who owns Coviello. We started talking about our barbershop and they had space downstairs. The idea of being inside another business didn't excite me too much to begin with.
"But then I started thinking about the client journey. How nice would it be for a client to be sat upstairs with a really good complimentary coffee, rather than just being sat on a bench in a window. It’s that extra little thing that other shops aren’t giving. So it’s nice to be able to have that hidden kind of studio, it’s almost speakeasy-ish. It kind of gives those vibes."
Luke, 36, has been in the business for 20 years, having been trained by Vidal Sassoon, before living in London for just under eight years and also spending some time in New York. He moved back home to Newcastle in 2018, and admitted he is extremely excited about the prospect of having his own shop with his friend.
"I’d been talking about doing it for a long time, but unfortunately circumstances hadn't allowed me to do that. Just before I met Roman, I was planning to move back into sales, which was the work I was in beforehand. I did that within the industry, working for GHD and other companies. I was planning on going back into that and then I met Roman and he came in to where I was working. I had become so complacent at this point.
"I met him and thought 'he's alright!’ He reignited that passion for it and our friendship been built on that, constantly trying to push each other to be better. Being able to open a shop with my mate, somebody I hold in such high regard as a genuine asset to the industry, it’s lovely to have that."
Roman previously provided training in Poland, and just this summer Roman and Luke gave a barber masterclass in Warsaw.
He added: "We're not currently offering this in the UK, but it is a future possibility. We are open to training people at their barbershops if the demand is there."
Roman added that the work is particularly rewarding because "you are rewarded with smiles on the faces of customers after giving them great service. It is also a great reward when you have people coming back and seeing familiar faces all the time."
The Three Blades Club is now open.