A BARBERS that has been around for almost two decades took over from a paper shop when it first opened.

Amaans Hair Salon, in Great Horton Road, is one of 10 finalists battling it out to be crowned the ‘Best Hairdresser or Barber 2024’.

The Telegraph & Argus recently launched the competition and an incredible 22,444 nominations came in through our online voting platform from our readers.

The names were whittled down to 10 and we are now aiming to publish a profile on each of the finalists in the coming days.

Kamran Khaliq, 33, has been a barber at Amaans for five years now.

He said on hearing about being shortlisted: “It’s very nice, we’re very excited.”

The barbers opened in 2007 under owner, and in-house barber, Mohammad Fazzad.

It was a paper shop originally but Mr Fazzad, who is 40, changed it to a barbers, according to Mr Khaliq.

The latter claims it is the oldest shop of its kind in the BD7 area.

Mr Fazzad, who is 40, began with one chair and has expanded the business over the past 17 years.

Mr Khaliq said: “It was one chair then with time it increased to two to three chairs and now we have five.

“He expanded to the next room – before, it was a small shop.”

The barbers predominantly sees Asian customers coming in, and while they do cater for all, this provides its advantages for the workers, according to Mr Khaliq.

He said: “It’s a totally friendly atmosphere, Asian customers, language Asian.

“We have white and black customers but not the majority.

“It’s easy for us to get to know each other.”

The sheer amount of barbers is beneficial for customers wanting to come in as a family.

Mr Khaliq said: “We’ve got five barbers, so if a customer has a child, or children, they can get their hair cut at the same time.”

Waxing and facials are also on offer at Amaans but Mr Khaliq admits when it comes to haircuts skin fades are the most popular choice.

There are some interesting requests from children who enter through the barbers' doors though.

Mr Khaliq said: “These days, children want something different with their haircut.

“Mohicans, taper fades, lines – we can do different haircuts.

“They just show a picture and we do the same.”