A much loved and treasured Enniskillen barber shop combined with a railway museum is one of eight finalists to be selected for the prestigious 'Love Your High Street UK Awards 2025' hosted by the British Independent Retailers Association.

Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum, located on Darling Street, Enniskillen, is the only finalist from Northern Ireland and was selected from hundreds of incredible independent businesses across the UK. The Love Your High Street Awards celebrates the local legends that keep our high streets alive with the overall winner decided by an online public vote.

A unique blend of barbering and heritage, Headhunters is a Fermanagh gem combining haircuts with rich Irish railway history.

Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum is one of the most unique attractions on the high street - blending traditional barbering with a rich celebration of Fermanagh’s railway heritage.

placeholder image — Nigel Johnston, Barber and Isaac Johnston operating the model railway at Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum Enniskillen

Founded in 1981 by brothers Nigel and Gordon Johnston, the business welcomes every customer with warmth and familiarity, offering a nostalgic experience unchanged by time. Some clients have been visiting since the shop first opened, and now Headhunters is serving third-generation customers.

In 2002, the adjoining ladies' salon was transformed into a railway museum, born from the brothers’ lifelong passion for local railways and the need for a permanent space to house artefacts. Today, it holds one of the largest collections of small Irish railway memorabilia, covering the Great Northern Railway (Ireland), the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway, and the Clogher Valley Railway. The museum operated entirely by volunteers is a registered charity and has won multiple awards, including the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Admission is free, and visitors often travel from across the world. The site is dog-friendly and frequently hosts school visits, community events, and heritage talks. A large model railway has proven especially popular with children, including those who are neurodivergent, helping to make barber visits a positive experience.

Headhunters is a valued community space where barbering and heritage unite. From local campaigns to international visitors, it stands as a testament to the power of personal connection and cultural preservation - offering not just a haircut, but a story worth sharing.

Barber Nigel Johnston welcomes the nomination: "It is a great honour for us to be recognised as a small family barber shop & railway museum from our island town of Enniskillen and the only finalist from Northern Ireland. The confirmation that we had firstly been nominated by our wonderful customers and then selected as a finalist came as a complete surprise and is very humbling for us and all the railway museum volunteers.

"As the world’s only barber shop and railway museum we enjoy meeting visitors from far and wide, sharing our heritage on the high street. We are overwhelmed by the response from the local community and further afield to the news that we have been selected as a finalist and we are grateful for everyone's support, showing how much our high street is loved."

Headhunters has enjoyed visits by several TV personalities including Gloria Hunniford, Richard Wilson, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Adrian Dunbar and Rob Bell who all treasure this gem on the high street.

But now Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum needs your help to make the final cut and win, putting Enniskillen's High Street on the map!

The winner is chosen by public vote and is easy to register on the Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum Facebook account or https://bira.co.uk/campaigns/lyhs/lyhs-awards-finalists

Closing date - August 27 with the winner officially announced on September 1.