walk in, or ring ahead · tue–sat · 0161 480 3257 stockport · underbank, by the brow

An elevation of one barbering bay: the mirror and back-bar shelf with clippers on hooks and shears in a block, the grade rail marked from half to eight beneath the shelf, the barber's chair with its pump base and footrest, and the waiting bench with today's paper. ½ 1 3 5 8 the pump the bench chair two · cal’s half to eight, in order One barber’s chair, three-quarter view: the headrest, reclined back, seat and arm filled in; the hydraulic column with its pump lever and the footrest with its diamond tread plate in ink; and the chrome base running off the foot of the frame.

Proper cuts.
No fuss.

In the chair —  skin fades, scissor crops, beard line-ups — every service priced flat below.

Chairs
Three
Walk-ins
Always · ring to skip the bench
Cut
£19 flat
Kids
Under-12s £14
Telephone
0161 480 3257

The list

Prices, flat

What it says is what you pay — no “from”, no surprises at the till. Card or cash, same price either way.

  • Cut£19 scissor or clipper, washed and finished guard as asked chair about 25 min
  • Skin fade£22 any grade down to the skin, blended proper guard skin to 3 chair about 30 min
  • Clipper cut, one grade£14 all over, in and out in no time guard one, ½ to 8 chair about 15 min
  • Cut & beard£26 the full job — cut plus trim and line-up guard as asked chair about 35 min
  • Beard trim & line-up£9 shaped, edged, hot towel to finish guard none — blade chair about 15 min
  • Kids, under 12£14 quiet hours are kindest — see the card guard 2 to 8 chair about 20 min
  • OAP, Monday to Thursday£13 same cut, honest discount guard as asked chair about 20 min
  • Restyle£24 growing it out or starting again — bring a photo guard scissor and clipper chair about 40 min

Big day coming? A wedding trim is just a cut booked a few days out, so it settles by the morning — say it’s for the day and we’ll time it right. No occasion surcharge, because that would be daft.

The bench

The ticket rail

Walk in, take a ticket, and it hangs on the rail in order — two chairs cutting, so your wait is the minutes ahead of you, halved. Here is how the rail reads on an ordinary mid-morning.

the rail, left to right · two barbers on

wait = minutes ahead ÷ 2 chairs, to the nearest five

  1. ticket41 Skin fade½ to 3 · about 30 min chair 1 · in now
  2. ticket42 Scissor cutwashed, finished · about 25 min chair 2 · in now
  3. ticket43 Beard line-uphot towel · about 15 min bench · 30 min
  4. ticket44 Skin fade1 to 4 · about 30 min bench · 35 min
  5. ticket45 Cut & beardthe full job · about 35 min bench · 50 min
  6. ticket46 Clipper cutgrade 2 all over · about 15 min bench · 70 min

Ring and your ticket goes on the rail before you leave the house — 0161 480 3257. The third chair is the wash and the kids’ seat, so it is two cutting at once, not three.

Say it like you mean it

The grades, translated

Barbers talk in guard numbers and nobody else does. Move along the strip, or pick one of the four cuts, and the head shows you what you would be asking for — in millimetres, and at the price it lands on.

The back of a head on its shoulders. The hair is shaded in from the crown downwards, and the shorter the guard you pick, the higher above the ears the shading stops.
the back of your head
Pick a clipper guard, or one of the four cuts, to see how short it goes and what it costs

Grade ½ — about 1.5 mm. Barely more than skin. It is the bottom of a fade, not a whole head. On the list — skin fade, £22

Grade 1 — 3 mm. Scalp shows through. A summer crop, or the bottom of a softer fade. On the list — clipper cut, one grade, £14

Grade 2 — 6 mm. What most people mean when they say short back and sides. On the list — clipper cut, one grade, £14

Grade 3 — about 9 mm. Neat without showing scalp. The safe answer if you are not sure. On the list — clipper cut, one grade, £14

Grade 4 — 13 mm. Half an inch. Tidy rather than short, and it grows out without a line. On the list — cut, £19

Grade 5 — 16 mm. Still clipper work, but a comb goes through it. On the list — cut, £19

Grade 6 — 19 mm. Three quarters of an inch — usually the top, rarely the sides. On the list — cut, £19

Grade 7 — 22 mm. Long enough to sit down rather than stand up. On the list — cut, £19

Grade 8 — 25 mm. A full inch. At this length scissors do a better job than clippers do. On the list — cut, £19

Skin fade. Shortest at the neck and ears, disappearing to skin, blended so you can’t see where one grade ends. Sharpest for two weeks, gone by six. On the list — skin fade, £22

Taper. The quieter cousin of the fade — neat at the neckline and round the ears, longer as it climbs, and no skin anywhere. Grows out kinder. On the list — cut, £19

French crop. Clippered back and sides, textured top brought forward into a blunt fringe. Hides a stubborn hairline politely, ten seconds of styling a day. On the list — cut, £19

Scissor crop. No clippers at all — scissor over comb, so the length stays soft and there are no clipper lines anywhere. On the list — cut, £19

Who’s cutting

Three chairs, two barbers

The third chair is for whoever’s next off the bench — and on Saturdays, for the apprentice we’re training up the proper way.

You’ll know you’ve found your barber when you stop explaining and just sit down.

Cal opened the shop in 2019 after eight years cutting on Underbank — City & Guilds NVQ Level 3 in barbering, and the one the silver-fox regulars ask for by name. Dee came through the apprenticeship route, NVQ Level 2, and owns the shop’s sharpest skin fades — the under-25s queue for her chair specifically.

Same cut, same price, whichever chair you land in. If you want the same hands every time, say so — ask by name and we’ll write it down. That’s the whole loyalty scheme.

First cut small person

£14

best time tue to thu, afternoons

Come in a quiet hour. He sits with you if he wants, we stop when he needs a minute, and nobody rushes anybody. If we only get halfway, come back free within the week.

Cal chair two

NVQ L3 · C&G

years in the chair since 2011

quiet hours tue to thu, afternoons

kids any quiet hour

The one the silver-fox regulars ask for by name.

Dee chair one

NVQ L2 · appr.

years in the chair since 2019

quiet hours tue to thu, afternoons

kids any quiet hour

The sharpest skin fades in the shop — the under-25s queue for this chair specifically.

Off the rail

Three tickets, mid-cut

The same tickets, in the middle of the job they paid for — blades, hands, and the line arriving. This is what the money on the rack buys.

A barber steadies a client's head with one hand while working a straight razor along the faded edge above the ear.
Skin fade, ½ to 3 about 30 min on the chair · chair one The razor edge · where a fade stops being a clipper job and starts being craft
Close view over the barber's shoulder: the top sectioned with clips while the razor squares the line behind the ear.
Cut, scissor on top about 25 min on the chair · chair two Squaring the line · top clipped out of the way, edges done last and slow
A trimmer held close to a skin fade, the blend already even from skin through to the longer top.
Skin fade, 1 to 4 about 30 min on the chair · chair one Detailing the blend · the last five minutes nobody sees and everybody notices

Finding us

Walk in, sit down

The shop

Opening days
MondayClosed
Tuesday09:00–18:00
Wednesday09:00–18:00
Thursday09:00–19:00 · late one
Friday09:00–18:00
Saturday08:30–16:00 · the busy one
SundayClosed

Last cut goes in the chair half an hour before close — a rushed fade helps nobody. Thursday evening is the quiet secret.

Union Chair 23 Little Underbank
Stockport SK1 1JT
0161 480 3257

Two minutes from Merseyway, under the brow. There’s a bench, today’s paper, and decent coffee two doors down if the queue’s long.

A route: from Merseyway the path climbs over the brow and drops down the far side to the shop door.
Merseywaythe browthe door

Not worth a phone call? Ask here

Restyle questions, first kids’ cuts, wedding timings, whether your photo is achievable — send it over and whoever’s on the quiet chair answers between cuts.