Mankind

Mankind is a traditional ‘blokes’ barbers situated on the popular Kings Heath strip of Poplar Road. Having said that, it’s also popular with dads taking their boys in for a pre-​term tidy-​up in the barnet department (sometimes moms too and in my case girfriends just y’know hanging about).
It’s owned and staffed by Mary and Julian, who offer a friendly service along with a bit of banter whilst you sit and receive either a contemporary style or just go for the basic short back and sides.
The clientele range from young to ‘eligible free bus pass’ with the general ambience of the surroundings contemporary, uncluttered and basic, reflected in the mid-​market price for decent hair cut. Man mags (nothing dodgy… honest) and newspapers abound.

So, obviously, it’s a bit odd that a girl is reviewing a barbers. It is not something I do often or intend to make a habit of.
However, having visited Mankind the other day with a friend who was taking her toddler to get his hair cut, I feel I have to report back on the good work that’s going on here. Said toddler really, really does not enjoy the hairdressing experience and pretty much screams the place down every time he goes. However, the staff were all so lovely and considerate and the guy that cut the toddler’s hair was super-​patient, and made sure he didn’t use clippers or hairdryers or anything too loud and scary.
Furthermore, as soon as my friend and toddler walked through the door, they were recognised and remembered by the staff, who asked them how everything was with building work being done on their house etc, which I thought showed an incredible interest in customers and ability to remember from one visit to the next.

Now I finally admitted to myself that my hair was growing out of control, I was beginning to look like a 70s tennis player. Not a look I felt I could pull off for much longer.
So I strolled on down to Mankind in search of a desperately needed trim of my bouffant mane. I sat for a few minutes appreciating their minimalistic layout.
‘So what would you like done?’ And seeing as I proceeded to give the vaguest instructions that the barber has probably ever witnessed in his career, I was very pleased with the result.
For 10 quid I got a very fine trim indeed and walked out a changed man.