What we would build for a hair, beauty and barber
The booking system already running for a real barber, in your brand
The Buxton Barber runs on a system we built from the ground up: a customer site where people pick a service and a time, a loyalty club with referral and streak bonuses, an admin with the diary, till and no-shows, and The Chair, a native iPhone diary the owner pairs with a one-time code. We build the same for your salon, with your services, your language and your rules, and you own it.
Built and delivered remotely from Cheshire, UK · fixed price agreed up front
What goes wrong today
The 15:00 that never came
A colour appointment booked by DM, the chair blocked for two hours, and silence. A deposit taken at booking is the difference between a no-show that costs you and one that doesn't.
Bookings in four places
Instagram, WhatsApp, the phone and the paper diary. Two of them agree. The stylist finds out about the double booking when both clients are in reception.
The subscription that owns your clients
A salon platform with a monthly fee, your clients in their marketplace next to your competitors, and a booking page that looks like everyone else's.
Regulars who drift
The client who came every four weeks and hasn't been in for ten. Nothing noticed, nothing sent, and the next salon along got them.
What we build for you, from the ground up
Booking engine with slot holds
Services with real durations, a grid built from your opening hours and each stylist's shifts, a hold while the client decides, an overlap check and a reservation in one transaction. Two people can never book the same chair. This is the engine live for The Buxton Barber today.
Deposits by Apple Pay or card
A deposit on the services you choose, taken at booking, deducted from the bill on the day. A late cancellation or a no-show keeps it, by your rules, with no awkward message.
Loyalty club with streaks and referrals
Visit streaks, referral bonuses and a standing rebooking so regulars never lose their slot. Members see their progress in the app; you see who's slipping and the system nudges them.
The Chair: your native iPhone diary
Today's clients, the next one, notes and history, one tap to mark done or no-show, walk-ins added in seconds. Paired with a one-time code, signed in with Face ID, zero third-party code.
WhatsApp and email reminders with retries
Confirmation, a reminder the evening before, 'running ten minutes late', a thank-you with a rebooking link, and 'it's been six weeks' when it has. A persistent job queue sends them and retries if a message fails.
Admin with diary, till and numbers
Services and prices edited by you, not hard-coded. Takings, bookings and no-shows on one screen, exportable as CSV for the accountant. Passkey sign-in with Face ID.
Your brand, five themes, self-hosted fonts
A fast site in your look, in your language, with a theme engine so you can change the mood without changing the code. Everything in your currency and your time zone.
The Apple layer your guests actually notice
Live Activity: the next client on your lock screen
While you're cutting, your lock screen shows who's next, in how many minutes, and whether they've arrived. The client's lock screen counts down to their appointment.
Appointment pass in Apple Wallet
Service, stylist, time, your address and number, and the loyalty streak on the back. Updates itself if you move the appointment.
Apple Maps and reminders that add themselves
One tap to your door for new clients. The appointment adds itself to their calendar with an alert an hour before.
App Clip QR on the mirror
A QR at the station opens an App Clip with no download: rebook the same slot in four weeks, buy the product you just used, tip with Apple Pay, join the club.
Widgets and the Dynamic Island
A home screen widget with today's list and takings so far. The next client sits in the Dynamic Island while you finish the current one.
Payments in Türkiye, done properly
Built and running: the examples this comes from
Questions we get asked
We have six stylists, not one chair. Does it scale?
Yes. Each stylist has their own shifts, services and diary; the client picks a person or 'anyone', and the engine checks every chair. The one-chair version is the simplest case of the same system.
Can clients still book on Instagram or WhatsApp?
Your bio links to the booking page, and a DM becomes a booking in the app in seconds with a link for the deposit. The conversation stays where it is; the diary becomes one place.
Is it really the same as The Buxton Barber's?
Same engine, same approach, built fresh in your brand and language with your services and rules. You can try the live site at buxton.hillcraft.dev.
What does it cost?
Fixed price agreed up front, scoped to your chairs and what you want in the first release. You own the code, the data and the app; no monthly licence to us and no fee per booking.
Do you visit the salon?
No. Delivered remotely from the UK with video calls, exactly as the barber's was. You test on your own iPhone before launch.
Send us your price list
Your services, your stylists and how clients book today. We'll reply with a written plan and a link to the live barber system, then talk it through on a video call.