A PAIR of hair-cutting brothers have opened the doors to the borough’s first barbershop bar after converting their Cradley Heath shop.

Adam Ingram, aged 35, has been running Xtreme Cutz in High Street for almost two decades, and now with his co-owner and 27-year-old brother Joe, the duo thought they would shake up the traditional barbershop.

“The idea came about because we’d seen barbershops in Birmingham were offering people free beer while they were having their hair cut,” Joe said.

“But we wanted to take it one step further and turn the barbershop into a proper bar with our own liquor licence.

“I believe we are the only barbershop in the whole of Sandwell and Dudley boroughs with our own alcohol licence.”

The renovation of the shop has taken two months to complete and the bar was officially unveiled on Monday (December 11).

Monday's bar opening marked 18 years to-the-day of when the barbershop was originally opened, as well as being the date of their mother Carol’s birthday – who the brothers have named the bar after.

Joe said: “Our mother passed away a few years back and was always so supportive of us and what we were doing.

“I wanted to keep her spirit alive in the shop, so I thought what better way than to name the new bar after her.”

The brothers, who grew up in Banners Street, Halesowen, will be opening ‘Carol’s Bar’ throughout Christmas – although they can only sell drinks to customers who are having their hair cut.

But as well as alcoholic beverages, including various Black Country ciders and spirits, the bar also serves soft drinks, coffee, tea and even milkshakes.

“We are a family business and have many kids come here for their haircuts, so it’s not just about the alcohol,” Joe added. “Our milkshakes are proper ones – like those you get in dessert shops where they use actual chocolate bars.

“Obviously we are both barbers and have been cutting hair our whole lives, so to go from that to running a bar is quite different.

“But once we got our licence we have been testing it out to see what drinks our customers like, so we know what to order in and how much stock we will need.

“We really hope it's something different that people will like, but the reaction we've had so far has been great.”