Dry cleaner Shaun goes from HRH to Heswall

Jul 7 2010 Bromborough and Bebington News

A WIRRAL dry cleaner has gone from HRH to Heswall!

Before moving up north Shaun Mason worked at Jeeves – billed as London’s finest dry cleaners and holder of the Royal Warrant for Prince Charles.

Former chat show host Michael Parkinson, Michael Winner, Egon Ronay, MPs, city traders and famous footballers were all regular customers.

Shaun and his staff regularly cleaned suits and glittering dresses worth thousands of pounds – the most expensive being a £175,000 bespoke Vera Wang dress.

He left it all behind to become his own boss and six weeks ago opened Mason McLean on Telegraph Road in Heswall, which used to be Rob Roy.

Shaun, 46, is aiming to bring a bit of the big city to Wirral, and alongside cleaning clothes is offering some more unusual services like taxidermy cleaning and designer handbag repairs.

He said: “I suppose what I’m trying to do is bring what I’ve learned in London up to Wirral.

“You’ve got to have a passion for this and you need to appreciate fashion.

“We get some really lovely pieces in and if you get a nice dress in you should comment on it.”

Shaun, who lives in North Wales with wife Alexis and daughter Miranda, eight, says dry cleaners can tell a lot about an area by the items customers bring in.

And he’s hoping his handbag repair service will appeal to fashion-conscious women across Wirral.

He said: “The lady customers I’ve told didn’t realise you could do that. Recently I did a Gucci bag for a lady in Caldy who was going to throw it out.

“A lot more things can be cleaned than people think.

“The £175,000 dress we cleaned in London belonged to a former Miss Yugoslavia who was getting married but here it’s in the middle. You get a real mix.

“We’ve had some Gieves & Hawkes suits but we’ve also had suits from M&S and Next.

“There are elements of London here. There are a lot of professionals in Heswall who have done a stint in London so they’re used to having that level of service.

“But while people in London will go wherever’s convenient, people here like to have an affinity with local businesses.”

He added: “In London we cleaned for the Royal Family but ultimately it’s all about service and trust.

“You’ve got to recognise that an item is of value to the customer, whoever they are.

“So far I’ve seen a beautiful Escada dress and pieces from Heidi Klein, Armani and Gucci but no taxidermy pieces – yet!”