Until recently this shophouse of _c._1815 had only two storeys. In 1933 Adolf Cohen took the premises, long occupied by bootmakers, and adapted them to be a hairdressing salon. Vidal Sassoon (1928–2012) served his apprenticeship here under ‘Professor’ Cohen. The business continued up to 1964, in later years as a wig factory. The building was raised in 2005–7, Hutton Enterprises acting as architectural consultants in a flat conversion for Ajay and Arwin Taheam of Zeco Ltd that included No. 103.1
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, L/THL/D/2/30/171; Building Control file 15926: Morris Beckman, The 43 Group, 1993, p. 5: Goad insurance map 1950: District Surveyors Returns: Post Office Directories: Tower Hamlets planning applications online ↩