About the shop
Small on purpose.
Sable & Steel started in 2014 with one chair, a borrowed till and a promise: nobody leaves with a haircut they didn't ask for.
Kas Mahmood trained in Nottingham, cut in London for six years, and came home to Derby wanting a shop that felt like the old barbers his grandad used — but with the precision of a modern fade.
He found the ground floor of a disused 1880s printworks off Irongate, stripped it back to the brick and filled it with reclaimed chairs and tiles saved from a closed Derby pub. Ellis joined in 2017, Theo in 2020. There are still only three chairs.
That's the point. We'd rather do twenty-five great cuts a day than sixty rushed ones. It's why we stay on time, why we write your last cut on your booking, and why most of our clients have sat in the same chair for years.
The barbers
Three chairs, three specialists
Kas Mahmood
Founder · fades & kids
Cutting since 2014 · 12 years in the trade
Ellis Byrne
Scissor work & long hair
Cutting since 2017 · 9 years in the trade
Theo Grant
Shaves & beard sculpting
Cutting since 2020 · 6 years in the trade
The house rules
- 01
On time, every time
If we run more than 10 minutes late, your next cut is half price.
- 02
Consult first
Two minutes of talking saves five weeks of growing it out.
- 03
Honest advice
If a style won't work with your hair, we'll say so — and suggest one that will.