Refugee businessman makes the cut
A REFUGEE who fled the political situation in Eritrea eight years ago is now running a thriving hairdressing business in Manchester’s Arndale Centre.
Samuel Habte left the north African state in 2005, fleeing the harsh regime of dictator Isaias Afwerki.
Now he is an award-winning hairdresser who runs the Decent Cut salon next to Boots and employs around eight staff.
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com during Refugee Week, Mr Habte said: “The good thing is I’ve opened the door and can give an opportunity to people like me or those from college and train them. That’s the main thing, it’s not about the money.”
He added: “I’m very grateful to be in this country, it’s given me an opportunity to be someone.”
Mr Habte arrived in 2005 and spent a year seeking asylum, waiting for the Home Office to grant refugee status. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work and are instead given a £35 a week Home Office payment and have their housing costs covered. In 2006 he was given permission to stay in the UK and started working at a friend’s salon.
“If you don’t have refugee status you can’t work and you’re living on £35 a week. It was hard. You can’t explain it. Hard is not the word. There was a time when I didn’t have enough money to eat,” said Mr Habte.
In 2010 he was ready to set up on his own with a loan from HSBC. But there had been a year of negotiations with the landlord of the Arndale.
“They asked me to pay money in advance but I needed to invest in the shop. So they had no deposit but they were willing to accept that because I showed them what I could do and they saw my idea was different to the other hairdressing shops in the centre – they don’t have anyone who can do the designs that I do.
“It took a year to negotiate, but you have to push it. There was a time when I was giving up and thinking ‘this is not for me’, but if you give up you get nothing.”
Mr Habte also competes in hairdressing competitions and has won numerous National Hairdressers’ Federation awards in recent years. He currently has two apprentices and says he has trained up 12 since opening.
David Allinson, centre director at Manchester Arndale said: “We pride ourselves on our wide variety of retailers, including a number of thriving independents. Decent Cut is an important part of this retail mix and is extremely popular with customers.
“The fact that Samuel Habte, the founding owner of Decent Cut, is now a National Hairdressers Federation award winner is testament to his popularity and we are proud to have his store in the centre.”
Support for an asylum seeker awaiting a decision is £36.62 a week, up nearly 3% since Mr Habte arrived in 2005, despite overall inflation rising by around 30% since then. The charity Refugee Action has launched a campaign to increase the payment to at least 70% of what British nationals receive on benefits. You can sign their petition here.
