The co-founder of a mobile barbering service has revealed how the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the USA sent shock waves that have affected many UK businesses.

Giuliano Dore, founder of Get Groomed, Mobile Barbers has no funding from the bank, but his UK-based barbering business felt the fall out.

He said: “Many of our clients are start-ups with no access to other banking facilities other than SVB UK’s arm and could have been obliterated overnight.

“Providing in-office barbering services to start-ups is the cornerstone of our business, so the knock-on effect could have been disastrous for us.”

It is reported SVB UK had around £7 billion in deposits and 3,000 customers: more than a third of startups having no access to other banking facilities.

“When I heard the news about the run on the bank on March 10, and knowing the over-reliance by start-ups on SVB UK, it was a worrying time,” added Giuliano.

“Stock markets were tumbling across the globe and start-ups were bracing themselves for the worst. We were holding our breath because we were at risk of losing some of our biggest clients.

“Fortunately, a plan was reached and SVB in the UK was saved through a deal with HSBC and thankfully we didn’t face any disruption, but it was a long weekend for us.”

Giuliano co-founded Get Groomed Mobile Barbers with Sabrina Vjaykumar in London in 2017 offering haircuts, wet shaves and beard trims in homes, offices, and hotel rooms across the capital.

“A big part of our business is to provide beauty services as an office perk; obviously we took a hit due to covid but we’re now back in full force and enjoying the ‘buzz’.

“A lot of companies have changed their back-to-office policy to include hybrid and flexible working and see barbering as an employee benefit to help motivate their teams.

In their own case, Giuliano and Sabrina decided against the venture capital route in favour of self-funding over fears they would be pressured to grow the startup too quickly.

Get Groomed now operates in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Kent and Guildford, Surrey, providing barber on demand services to corporate and individual private clients.