Darren Messias celebrates 35 years with Long-Eaton based company

The managing director of a Long Eaton-based hairdressing company is celebrating a 35-year milestone with the company after joining its apprenticeship scheme back in 1989.

Darren Messias joined Keith Hall at the tender age of 16, working his way from the salon floor to head office. He is now managing director of the firm which has its headquarters in Long Eaton. 

Darren is passionate about training and oversees the award-winning Training Academy and is also creative director, leading the Creative and Colour Teams – specially selected and highly skilled stylists and colourists who attend photoshoots, and are on hand near catwalks, in the press and at industry shows. 

Darren’s 35-year career path:

• Darren joined the team at the Derby St Peters salon in 1989 and began his training at the newly-opened  Academy in Long Eaton
• After qualifying as a stylist and spending four years at the St Peters salon (winning the Sarah Brown Trophy – the equivalent to the now-termed 3rd Year Competition in 1992), Darren moved to Derby St James Street to work with future business partner Tim Fee and the team. Here he spent the next three years becoming a busy stylist and embarking on his creative journey with the company
• In 1994, Darren was chosen to be a member of the exclusive Fellowship for British Hairdressing’s F.A.M.E Team with Errol Douglas and, in 2003, was winner of the Best Men’s Collection at The Association Internationale Presse Professionnelle Coiffure (AIPP) Awards
• In 1996, the opportunity to become a co-franchisee with Tim Lacey and Amanda Fall at a Leicester salon came up and Darren knew this was a chance not to be missed. His career as a franchisee and business owner had begun
• In 2004, Darren joined forces with Tim Lacey and Tim Fee to become co-franchisor of the franchising arm of the firm – claiming his head office desk where he still sits today
• Tim Lacey retired in 2007, leaving Darren and Tim Fee as equal partners
• Darren received a Fellow with Honours Award from the Fellowship of British Hairdressing in 2016
• In 2020, Tim Fee retired leaving Darren at the helm of the 21-strong salon group which is now branded differently to its original name. This year, the Group celebrated its 100-year anniversary
• In December 2023, Darren was awarded a ‘Fellow with Distinction’ medal for his work to support the Fellowship, going above and beyond to contribute to its activities and promoting UK hairdressing as a whole

Darren said that, while he can reflect on a successful career so far, he is very much looking forward to an exciting future. He remarked on the factors he said contributed to the longevity of the company in the region. He said: “I strongly believe one of the biggest contributing factors is our genuine sense of family and belonging.  This goes right back to the late 1940s and our founder Mr Keith Hall MBE. This ethos is the very foundation that has been carried on passionately throughout the years.”