THE owner of a family business has announced his ambitious plans to renovate the former Toni & Guy salon building.

Phil Smith, 55, director of Smith England, was the franchisee of Toni & Guy for 32 years and decided to start his own hairdressing business 10 years ago.

His contract with Toni & Guy came to an end this week (Thursday, April 27) and he decided it was time to rebrand the salon on Silver Street.

Read more: Toni and Guy salon in Salisbury to be replaced by Smith England

The family-run business will retain all of its 22 staff members and development proposals to strip the building back to its roots will be submitted to Wiltshire Council this week.

Salisbury Journal: Phil Smith outside Smith England.Phil Smith outside Smith England. (Image: Salisbury Journal)

Work will start at the end of July and during the month-long closure staff will operate from the old Smith England salon on High Street.

Then, in September, a "high-end" antiques shop will rent the building.

Despite receiving lots of offers from businesses eager to occupy the former Christian bookshop, Phil said that the shop is "what this part of town needs".

“There’s a huge amount of history here. I love it and it breaks my heart to be leaving but I am also very excited to see what we can do to that other building," Phil added.

Salisbury Journal: Smith England will become an antiques shop.Smith England will become an antiques shop. (Image: Salisbury Journal)

Phil has spent the last two to three months consulting with the conservation team since the Toni & Guy building is listed. He said: "We're taking it back to how it was 450 years ago. 

"We are literally taking the building apart, giving it a new roof and a terrace at the back overlooking the church yard."

The whole front of the building will also be replaced and the interior will feature exposed timber, brick and stone walls.

This is his first opportunity to do some much-desired work to the salon since it was too busy to close down for a whole month previously.

Phil aims to make it a place of calm where people can come in and "take a few hours off life".

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Renovating old buildings has become a hobby for Phil, who also built and made over the Salisbury Orangery.

He said: “You should do what you enjoy and these things have become a labour of love for me.

“All of the things we have done over the last 32 years we owe it to the people of Salisbury. It is a fantastic city."

Smith England will be up and running in its new location in Silver Street from Friday, April 28.