Cut and dry: The best Manchester barbers

Close Male Grooming NQ is small but perfectly formed for a barber. It has an attitude and an energy that makes going for a trim seem like hanging out. No wonder the original barbershop on Great Ancoats Street has since been joined by other outposts. Find Close on Bridge St, Whitworth St, Blackfriars and Castlefield as well as slightly further afield in Chorlton, Altrincham and West Didsbury.

Three things we like about the Dalton Street Salon: the people, the prices and the cuts. It’s not easy to find a good, easy-access hairdressers and barbers in Manchester city centre that doesn’t charge over-the-odds, but this is one.

Family-run Flanagans Barbers has been grooming Manchester’s gents for nearly 30 years – and now has branches in Didsbury, Altrincham, Wilmslow and Media City.

If you like to have something to look at (other than yourself) while you’re at the barbers, the eclectic, retro decor of Jersey Street Social Club will fit the bill.

Where does a guy go when he wants a full-on glow-up, the kind normally only reserved for the fairer sex? We suggest he start at King Street Grooming – a barbers and ‘bro-tox’ spa that takes advantage of all the recent advances in aesthetics treatments and tailors them for a mainly male clientele.

The London School of Barbering: Manchester is the northern outpost of this well-renowned academy for barbers-to-be. As well as their barbering courses, which cater for beginners up to master barbers, they also offer haircuts for a bargain price.

Manchester barbers Notjust were named one of the top 10 in the UK by the Guardian thanks to their up-to-the-minute styling and understated creativity.

Palace Barbers, or to give it its full title, Palace Barbers Unisex Hairdressing at Afflecks, is much-loved by Mancunians for many reasons. One of them being Steve, the Debbie Harry-obsessed owner who runs the place.

With a fridge full of Asahi beers and a varied clientele that includes footballers, NQ hipsters and members of the Manchester underworld, RPB on Tib Street is the place to go if you want a barbering experience that’s a level above your average 15-minute Saturday morning trim.

This barbers on Back Bridge Street has been sharpening the looks of Mancunians for over a decade now. Urban Gent Hairdressing counts Andy Burnham amongst its Instagram followers, and have you ever seen him having a bad hair day? Nope.