A SALON offering men's hairdressing and personal grooming has toasted its 40th anniversary in York.

Family-run Cads For Men, Fossgate, was first established in Church Street in 1979 before relocating to its current site, attracting repeat customers and a team of loyal staff.

Award-winning gents barber David Smith runs the business with his wife Valerie who overseas their neighbouring salon, Femmes Fatales, and son James, who is also a barber.

"I keep trying to retire and cut my hours," said David, who is now 62. "But I enjoy it. Hairdressing and fashion have changed over the years but the basic principles are still the same.

"Nowadays, we have more competition but we have never been busier. We pay attention to details and give good customer care.

"Fossgate is fantastic. When we had the opportunity to buy Fossgate, it was a dead area of town 21 years ago. Over the last 10 to 12 years it has just got busier as a street. Nowadays it is probably the main street in York. What helps is we don't have the chains; they are independents and there's a good variety of shops."

He added: "Our unique selling point is that we have staff who have been with me for 37 years. My manager started out as a junior and has been with us for 16 years."

David also successfully launched another salon in Micklegate, which he then sold as a franchise 28 years ago to the manager John Hughes, who still runs the business today.