A barber who has been brushing shoulders with the rich and famous has now secured a gig cutting the hair of the Welsh national football team. 

James Gura-Lowe is the co-founder of Grade 92, a mobile barber serving Dorset and Wiltshire.

The 31-year-old already barbers for AFC Bournemouth but recently put his skills to the test when he travelled up to Wales.

Speaking about the experience on October 13, he said: “I was absolutely buzzing.

“The opportunity got presented through a couple of the AFC Bournemouth lads and I took it.

“When I heard about the Wales job, I just drove up there in my van.

“I stayed up there the night and just spent the afternoon with the Wales squad at the Vale Resort.”

“I’ll hopefully be getting some more opportunities from that.

Bournemouth Echo:

Wales went on to beat Croatia 2-1 on October 15.

He added: “Just through being mobile, it opens a lot more opportunities.

“I started getting a couple more footballers through the door and sort of higher profile clientele.

“Then just through that, opportunities have come, and business is growing.

As well as the great deal on wheels, Grade 92 also has four salons in Dorset.

James added: “We started with one shop and then gradually, over time, we grew and then we started the van up about two and a half years ago, which was a lockdown idea.

“It started off with the Castlepoint store back in 2015, and then we opened in Southbourne in 2017, and now we've opened Ashley Cross and Springbourne this year.

“I think when you show yourself, putting yourself out there, more opportunities come up.

“I got the opportunity last year to go and cut the AFC Bournemouth team on pre-season over in Marbella. So I flew out to their pre-season camp.

Bournemouth Echo:

The inspiration behind the brand name also came from James’ mum.

He added: “It's funny because when the brand started, we couldn't even think of a name.

“It was my mum that came up with the name graders, and I didn't like it.

“Me and Kieran were both born in 92, and I thought, well, you've got grades 1,2,3,4 for the clippers.

"I thought, what about grade 92? And it just kind of, like, stuck from there."

James is heading back to visit the Welsh football team on November 19 and 20.