Offering tattoos and piercings from professionally trained artists, BW Tattoo Studios in Aldridge has recently expanded on the success of its popular Lichfield branch, despite the challenges that lockdown brought for many local businesses.
2 Rookery Lane, Aldridge, WS9 8NN
Now the owner of two premium tattoo parlours, with the Aldridge tattoo parlour only opening a couple of months ago, owner and artist Craig Startin spoke with Pioneer Magazines to tell us about his story as he quit the corporate life in search of this dream and battled through the challenges of lockdown.
From The Supermarket To The Tattoo Shop
The light bulb switched on in Craig’s head as he sat in a Co-op board meeting. He was a supermarket manager, who had spent years climbing the corporate ladder after joining the YTS scheme, straight from school.
But as he sat and listened to the talk about performance and profit, supply and stock, he suddenly realised he had designs on a different kind of life.
A safari sleeve, created by Aldridge tattoo artist, Brandon.
“I just thought ‘what am I doing here?’” he remembers. “I thought to myself, this isn’t what I wanted to be. It wasn’t the life that I wanted. So, I decided to make a change.”
Nearly 15 years later Craig, with the support of his wife Jenny, has an altogether different design for life – as one of the area’s best-known tattooists.
And with a new studio just opened in Aldridge – adding to the successful studio they already run in Lichfield – it’s clear Craig made the right move to follow his dream.
He said: “At school, I was very much into art and photography and I realised that I had just ended up climbing this corporate ladder. So, I changed my profession.
“I got back into drawing and luckily a friend of mine had a tattoo studio, and they gave me a shot. It all built from there.”
Stunning Lord of the Rings design.
The result of more than a decade of work is BW Tattoo Studios, which opened its new Aldridge premises in Rookery Lane straight out of lockdown.
“Lockdown was crippling for us,” Craig said, “because we just couldn’t trade. But we’re looking ahead now, with the new Aldridge studio open for six weeks.”
Like the Lichfield studio, the new Aldridge site is unlike the traditional view of the dingy tattoo parlour, offering a bright, welcoming environment.
Inside the Aldridge tattoo studio
“We’ve never really been into that old-fashioned tattoo culture, so there’s a different look to how we have done things,” Craig explained, “we wanted to make it a little more homely and comfortable for people.
“The premises used to be a beauty salon, with cubicles and treatment rooms, but we realised the spaces weren’t big enough to do what we wanted to do and feel comfortable about it. So, we ripped everything out and redid the whole studio to how we wanted it.”
The team offer tattooing, piercing and laser removal, using the very latest technology in a modern, COVID-secure setting. They also stock a large range of luxury piercing jewellery so clients don’t have to get pierced with plain studs. It’s all about delivering a friendly customer experience.
And when it comes to tattoos, BW like their artists to develop individual skillsets so customers can rely on expertise.
“We try to have artists that specialise in different areas and popular styles – such as black and grey, or colour realism – so there’s somebody available to deliver what a customer wants, regardless of the style” Craig said.
During his time in the industry, Craig has seen lots of changes – from the technology available to the style of designs, and also the way that people with tattoos are perceived.
Bryan Sharratt, who has a passion for Japanese and black and grey realism, joined the BW Tattoo Studios team in June.
Tattoo Studios Evolve
He said: “The industry is always changing. For a start, the machinery just keeps evolving, giving us different ways of working the skin to create more fantastic designs.
“If you don’t embrace new technology you tend to get left in its wake, so we stay up to date.
“The kind of tattoos that people want has changed too. Where you used to walk into a shop and look on the wall and pick a design, now we custom design for clients. So, they may come in with four or five ideas, and we can help build a personal, special design for them.
“Sometimes they come in having seen another tattoo that they like and want the same thing, but even then, we try to help them modify it a little to make it personal and different.
A bright and open environment.
“But most of all, the perception of what kind of person has tattoos has changed. It was traditionally regarded as a rebellious thing to do, and had some quite negative things attached to it, but the culture has completed changed now.
“A lot of it is down to footballers to – people like David Beckham – there doesn’t seem to be a footballer on the field these days without a full sleeve!
“But tattoos these days are seen as a way for people to express themselves as an individual, in a much more positive, creative way.”
That creative spark is what drove Craig after he stepped away from his corporate life to become a tattooist, and now he is determined to give others the same opportunity.
“I’ve tried to give other people the same chance that I had to follow a creative path,” he said, “which is why we have always taken apprentices.
“At our Lichfield studio there are a few fully-fledged tattooists who started with us as an apprentice, and we have one in Aldridge too.
“I’ve tried to give everybody that chance because it’s something that happened to me.”
Win A Tattoo Valued Up to £400
Pioneer Magazines has teamed up with BW Tattoo Studios in Aldridge to give away a fantastic prize!
For your chance to win a tattoo day sitting valued at up to £400, simply:
- Follow Pioneer Magazines on Facebook
- LIKE the B.W. Tattoo Studios competition post.
- TAG a friend on the competition post.
- SHARE the post.
Follow these four steps between 1 July-15 July and we’ll draw one person out from all eligible entries on 16 July. Full T&Cs apply.
Terms and conditions
- The prize is a £400 gift voucher eligible for a tattoo day sitting only.
- The £400 cannot be broken up into smaller values and must be taken in one sitting, regardless if the tattoo requested costs less than the amount of the voucher.
- Only one entry per person.
- Entrants must be 18+.
- The prize cannot be transferred and can only be claimed by the person entering the competition.
- If the winner does not want the prize, a redraw will be made.
- Pioneer Magazines reserves the right to redraw the prize if it suspects that the winner has broken any of the terms and conditions.
- W. Tattoo Studios reserves the right to forfeit the prize if after consultation the winner has any health conditions that may prevent them from having a tattoo.
- Facebook in no way endorses this competition.