Omer Mustafa outside his barber shop with wife Nalan

AN Islington barber has hung up his clippers after almost half a century of cutting hair.

Omer Mustafa, 70, who has been running Seren’s Gent Hairstylist in Newington Green Road since 1982, reflected on his time in N1, and how the area around him has changed.

He grew up in Cyprus and got his first taste of hairdressing aged just nine. When he moved to London in 1967, aged 12, he took a part-time job in a barbers in Green Lanes, working after school and on weekends to gain expertise in the industry. His father-in-law owned a Turkish cafe in Newington Green Road, and when he retired, gifted the premises to Mr Mustafa so he could open his own barbershop. Now, after over four decades of being open 6 days a week, he has closed the shop for the last time.

“Sadly there comes a time where you’ve got to say enough is enough with work. On Sunday we came in, took all the stuff down from the walls, and I felt like crying, you know. It’s the end of an era, isn’t it?” Mr Mustafa told the Tribune.

“I just love cutting hair. I love meeting people, having a joke and a bit of banter. There’s a great social side to this job. I’ve got customers who have been coming in here since I opened. I’ve seen generations of families. Can you imagine cutting someone’s hair and then he grows up and gets married and brings his children in here? A lot of people have told me how sad they are that I’m closing.”

Mr Mustafa said he’d seen a revolving door of different hair fashions. He added: “In the 1990s and early 2000s, everybody wanted to look like David Beckham. Kids would point at the wall and say, ‘make me like him’.”

He’s had celebrities, rappers and Sky Sports football pundits who live locally come into the shop. “I’ve cut people’s hair for years and then seen them on the television, without even knowing who they are!” he said.

In his retirement, Mr Mustafa said he plans to travel with his wife Nalan, see the world, and tend to his garden.