Pall Mall Barbers is proud to see Richard Marshall MBE, Founder and CEO of Pall Mall Barbers, featured by London TV in a story that reaches well beyond barbering. Published on 28 August 2026 and positioned in London TV’s Top Stories, the report, “Richard Marshall Turns Dyslexia Into a Drive to Help Others,” follows Richard’s journey from leaving school struggling with dyslexia to building a career, growing Pall Mall Barbers, and using his experience to mentor others facing their own challenges. London TV describes how his work raising awareness around dyslexia and supporting others contributed to the recognition he received through his MBE.
For Pall Mall Barbers, the feature is meaningful because it is independent recognition of a story that has developed over decades. Richard’s journey has never followed a conventional route. It began with practical learning, listening, and barbering, continued through entrepreneurship and international business, and has increasingly become a platform for helping other people find their own way forward. The London TV story gives an outside voice to that journey and shows why the impact behind Pall Mall Barbers extends beyond the barber chair.
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A Story London TV Chose to Tell
London TV did not focus its report on business turnover, store openings or commercial success. Instead, it chose to tell the human story behind Richard Marshall. The feature opens by explaining that his route to success did not start in a classroom. He left school without qualifications, spent years discovering how he learned most effectively, and found mentors who helped him build both a career and eventually a business. That editorial focus matters because it demonstrates that the part of Richard’s journey attracting wider attention is not simply what he built, but how he reached that point and what he now does with the experience.
The story also reflects something Richard has spoken about publicly for years: traditional education was difficult for him, but difficulty learning in one particular way did not mean an inability to learn. Pall Mall Barbers’ own account of his MBE journey records that he left school at 15 with severe dyslexia and developed through observation, repetition, practical work and learning through doing.
“My First Mentor Was My Dad”
One of the most personal moments in the London TV interview comes when Richard talks about the person who first showed him what mentorship could look like. “My first mentor was my dad,” he explains. His father was not a businessman and did not always know how to solve the problem Richard brought to him. What mattered was something much simpler: he listened.
Richard remembers that even when his father did not have the answer, “what he would do is just listen to what I had to say.” That experience became an important part of how Richard now views mentoring. It is not necessarily about standing in front of another person with every solution already prepared. Sometimes the most useful contribution is giving someone room to explain the problem, asking the right questions and helping them identify the next step for themselves.
That approach has followed Richard throughout his business life. It can be seen in his work with young people, people with dyslexia, entrepreneurs and business owners, as well as in wider professional conversations such as his recent participation in a Barclays Relationship Manager training day, where the discussion centred on SMEs, neurodiversity, finance and the importance of relationships built on genuine understanding.
Learning Differently Rather Than Believing He Could Not Learn
Richard speaks openly in the report about how obvious the difference felt during childhood. Other people appeared able to pick up reading, writing, and languages in ways that did not come naturally to him. As he puts it, “it wasn’t for the want of trying. It was just that I was different.”
That distinction became critical. Struggling in a particular education system can create powerful assumptions about ability, particularly when somebody is young. Richard describes having to move away from limiting beliefs about what he was capable of and instead understand how his own mind worked.
“With persistence and learning over a number of years,” he tells London TV, “I started to learn how I learn.” For Richard, that shift from concentrating only on what to learn towards understanding how he learned became a turning point.
The result was not that dyslexia disappeared. Instead, Richard found practical methods that allowed him to progress. Repetition, observation, conversations, and hands-on experience became part of an education that eventually extended far beyond barbering and into leadership, international trade, and business ownership.
The Barber Chair Became Part of His Education
Barbering provided Richard with a practical career, but it also gave him something he could not have predicted when he started: access to people.
Every day behind the chair brought conversations with clients from different industries, professions and backgrounds. Over time, Richard began to understand how valuable those conversations could be if he was prepared to listen.
“The more I realised this, the more I started to ask them better questions,” Richard says in the London TV interview. “The more I listened, the more my knowledge started to grow.”
That line helps explain a significant part of his business journey. Richard did not view the person in the barber chair simply as the recipient of a service. The client brought knowledge, perspective, and life experience into the room too. By asking questions and listening, Richard continued his education through real conversations.
It is also a principle that remains relevant to Pall Mall Barbers today. A client may walk through the door because his haircut has lost its shape, his beard needs attention, or he is preparing for a professional or personal occasion. Understanding what matters to that man begins with listening to him. The client does not need to arrive knowing every technical barbering term. He needs the opportunity to explain what he wants, what is not currently working, and how he wants his appearance to fit the life he actually leads.
Dyslexia Became a Reason to Help Other People
The London TV report places particular emphasis on dyslexia because it has become one of the causes most closely connected with Richard’s mentoring work. What began as something he personally had to navigate has become a subject he now speaks about publicly so that other people can see a different possibility for themselves.
Richard tells London TV that people now contact him privately after hearing his story. Some tell him that they face the same challenges. Others say their children do. They ask how he dealt with it and how he found a way forward.
Those messages demonstrate why personal stories can have value beyond the person telling them. Richard cannot provide one universal solution for dyslexia, and his route will not be identical to someone else’s. What his experience can demonstrate is that struggling with one method of learning does not automatically determine a person’s future.
It is a message that has gained recognition beyond Pall Mall Barbers.
Official Recognition Through an MBE
Richard Marshall’s contribution was formally recognised in the 2026 New Year Honours, where he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire. The UK Government officially records the honour as being awarded to Richard Marshall, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pall Mall Barbers, for services to international trade, mentoring and people with dyslexia.
That official recognition provides powerful independent validation of the areas highlighted by London TV. His contribution to mentoring and dyslexia awareness is not simply part of a Pall Mall Barbers brand story; it forms part of the reason he was recognised nationally.
Richard was subsequently invested as an MBE at Windsor Castle. Pall Mall Barbers’ account of the occasion describes the honour not simply as recognition of commercial achievement, but as acknowledgement of the wider journey through mentoring, dyslexia support and creating opportunities for others.
The London TV feature therefore adds another independent layer to that recognition. The MBE represents official national acknowledgement. London TV gives a wider audience an opportunity to understand the personal story behind it.
Mentoring Without Pretending to Have Every Answer
One of the strongest ideas running through Richard’s interview is that mentoring is not about presenting yourself as the person who knows everything. His approach has been shaped by his own experience of being helped by people who were prepared to listen rather than pretend they had the perfect response.
That philosophy matters in business because entrepreneurs often find themselves facing decisions for which there is no simple answer. Growth, recruitment, finance, international expansion and leadership all involve uncertainty. A mentor may not be able to remove that uncertainty, but they can share experience, challenge assumptions, and help the person making the decision think more clearly.
Richard’s own mentoring work follows that principle. The objective is not to make another person dependent on his answers. It is to help them become clearer about their own next move.
From Barbering to International Business
Richard’s story also demonstrates how practical skills can become a foundation for a much wider career. Barbering was where he found structure and confidence, but building Pall Mall Barbers eventually required him to learn about leadership, property, marketing, finance, international trade and business development.
That journey led Pall Mall Barbers beyond a single London barbershop and into an international business operating in London and New York. Richard has also contributed his experience to government-backed business programmes, where his advice to companies considering international growth has emphasised networking with people who have already achieved what you want to do, learning from them and looking for ways to add value to those relationships.
Once again, the theme returns to people.
Richard’s career developed through practical experience, but relationships helped provide knowledge, perspective and opportunities along the way.
The Client Has Always Been Part of the Story
There is another reason the London TV interview connects naturally with Pall Mall Barbers.
Richard learned by listening to clients.
Those conversations helped shape his understanding of business and life. The people in the chair were not simply appointments on a diary; they became part of his education.
That continues to matter because the client remains at the centre of Pall Mall Barbers today. A man may visit because he needs a haircut before an interview, a beard trim before an important occasion, or simply a grooming routine that feels easier to maintain. The history, recognition, and media coverage surrounding the brand can provide context, but the client’s reason for visiting remains more important than any award or headline.
The man in the chair has his own story to write.
Pall Mall Barbers is there to support one part of how he prepares for it.
“Giving Freely With Abundance”
The London TV feature closes on a line that brings Richard’s journey together.
After discussing dyslexia, learning, mentorship, and the MBE, Richard explains what he wants to do with the platform his experience has created. “For me, I think it’s just a mindset of just giving freely with abundance and helping as many people as you can.”
It is a simple statement, but it carries the weight of everything that came before it.
A boy who found conventional education difficult learned through a different route. A young barber discovered that clients could become teachers if he asked better questions. Mentors helped him when he did not have every answer. Experience eventually became a business, and the lessons from that business created an opportunity to help other people.
That is why the London TV story matters.
It is not simply another appearance for the Founder and CEO of Pall Mall Barbers.
It is independent recognition of the purpose that has grown alongside the business.
Pall Mall Barbers Is Proud to See Richard’s Story Recognised
Pall Mall Barbers is proud to see Richard Marshall MBE’s journey shared by London TV, particularly because the report focuses on the lessons that sit behind the achievements. London TV describes a man who struggled with dyslexia, built a successful career and now mentors others facing similar challenges. The UK Government independently confirms that his contribution to international trade, mentoring and people with dyslexia led to his appointment as an MBE. Together, those sources provide strong social proof around a story that has been built through decades of work rather than a single moment of recognition.
Yet Richard’s own words perhaps explain the journey most clearly. Listen more. Ask better questions. Understand how you learn. Help other people when you can.
The MBE is an honour. The London TV feature is recognition. The business is an achievement. But the continuing purpose is what connects them all.
Keep Sharp, Every Day.
Stay Connected with Richard Marshall| CEO and Founder of Pall Mall Barbers
Richard Marshall’s journey shows that consistency, craft, and service can take you from the back of a barbershop to Windsor Castle.
If you have ever searched “barbers near me” and walked into a Pall Mall Barbers shop, you are part of this story.
Thank you for being part of the journey.
Keep Sharp Every Day
