Inside The Roots Foundation on New Bridge Street with PJ

Independent businesses that break new ground and foster genuine community spirit are the heartbeat of the high street. In this final Season 1 feature, we visit The Roots Foundation to chat with founder PJ, Gaby, and Joe about creating the UK's first fully vegan, inclusive barbershop.

Open since December 2017, The Roots Foundation was established to offer a completely non-gendered, cruelty-free space where anyone can get any haircut they want:

"We're The Roots Foundation... We've been here since 2017... We were the first fully vegan barbershop in the whole of the UK... We were the first inclusive barbershop in Exeter."

Beyond vegan, handmade, and all-natural hair and beard products—including PJ’s own brand Hell Yes!—the shop doubles as a vibrant community social space, partnering with Sanctuary Coffee from just outside Totnes:

"All the products we use, all the products we stock are also all handmade, all natural, & all non-gendered as well... Roots has always been a place where we use the space for multiple different usages... we've had film screenings, we've had gigs... we're going to be hosting the Exeter Comedy Festival for the third year running."