Leamington barber Frank to celebrate 40th year since he set up shop in town

Frank Passantino opened Franks Gent’s Hairdresser in Regent Street on January 27 1976 and is still cutting customers’ hair while managing the business to this day.

Over the years he has cut the hair and given traditional cut throat razor shaves to the the great and good in the area, including former Coventry City captain Mick Coop who was the first customer at the shop and still uses its services to this day.

Mr Passantino, who lives in Whitnash, said: “The best thing for me is that I have made so many friends over the years - they started off as customers and now I see them all the time.

“We’ve always been busy and I’m not ready to retire yet.

“I don’t think many other places in town can say they still have the same person who set them up still managing and working there.”

Mr Passantino learned to cut hair after he left school during his childhood in Sicily.

He moved to England at the age of 16 and - having worked in Maidenhead and then at various barbers in Leamington including Neville Lawson on the Parade - he opened Franks when he was 30.

Mr Passantino, whose daughter Marianne also works at the salon, describes Franks as a ‘no nonsense’ barbers and Leamington’s ‘only true retro barber shop’.

He said: “We haven’t changed our prices for nearly four years and we always offer a free beard trim with a hair cut.

“We don’t just aim to give the customer what they want but what they need. Someone can ask you to shape their hair in a certain way but you also have to match that to the shape of their face so it suits them.”