Plymouth man who suffered major burns after tattoo removal opens his own laser studio

Mar 26, 2024

Plymouth Laser Clinic, which prides itself on being inclusive to all communities, carries out 'life-changing' treatments by removing unwanted tattoos or undesired body hair

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A Plymouth man who suffered third degree burns after paying to have a tattoo removed with a 'fluid' was inspired to open his own laser clinic - to stop the same thing from happening to other people.

Ben Kelly, aged 35, was left seriously injured after a 'bad experience' with tattoo removal and began researching new laser technologies to get rid of unwanted body ink.

Making the brave decision to leave his successful engineering career, the born-and-bred Plymothian retrained and opened Plymouth Laser Clinic in Bretonside.

Now the business is going from strength-to-strength and has expanded to offer even more services since Ben first started out, including laser hair removal.

Ben says he prides himself on remaining 'affordable' but he also ensures his clinic is a safe space for those seeking treatment, including trans people who want to remove their body hair permanently. Ben says the business, which is based in Plymouth's 'Queer District', is a 'safe and professional environment' for trans clients.

He said: "We see trans people at the initial side of their journey when their mind is torn between what direction to go in and what guidance to get. We’re one of the first points of their journey. At the beginning of their journey, we’re a part of that, we make them feel at ease and relaxed in a professional environment.”

Ben explained that setting up the clinic seven years ago was a 'complete career change' for him - but he hasn't looked back.

He said: "We’ve removed thousands of tattoos over the years. Setting up the clinic seven years ago was a complete turnaround, a career change. I’m a people person and we see a lot of the public here. People come in with important needs and it causes them concerns, we help that person and they walk out of here a different person. The outcome is that we’re doing something good for the community, especially with laser hair removal. They come to our clinic in distress, hair can cause self conscious issues. After hair removal, they walk away happy. It’s the science behind the machine that achieves the overall result."

Staff at Plymouth Laser Clinic use high-tech, up-to-the-minute equipment. As well as helping trans people initially start their journey with laser hair removal, a large part of the clinic’s clientele also book in to remove or reduce a tattoo. Many individuals regret a tattoo choice from years ago and want to get rid of the ink later on as their life path changes.

Ben explained that even the most challenging of tattoos have been removed using laser treatment, including one known as a ‘Mike Tyson tribal’ on a client’s face. Once the tattoo ink was removed from the face, it was ‘life changing’ for the customer, Ben said, as the tattoo was affecting work commitments because it was constantly on show. Removing an ex-partner's name tattoo is another treatment often carried out at the clinic, as people move on with their lives and things change.

Plymouth Laser Clinic uses a Ruby Laser to remove unwanted tattoos, a high-tech machine which is effective in breaking down all ink colours. Last Monday (August 14) was National Tattoo Removal Day and Ben said that several people visited the clinic for body ink removal.

Ben was inspired to set up the business after going through a ‘bad experience’ with tattoo removal himself. When Ben went through tattoo removal he wasn’t treated by laser removal. Instead, a fluid was used and he ended up with third degree burns. Due to his experience, Ben started to research tattoo removal and looked into new laser technologies to get rid of unwanted ink on the body. This led to the ‘bright idea’ of setting up a laser clinic, after industry training. Ben explained that Plymouth Laser Clinic uses NHS improved lasers. The clinic started up as a tattoo removal service, but now offers many other laser treatments for vascular treatments, laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation and pigmentation using new technologies.

The clinic also prides itself on being ‘affordable’. Ben explained that there are discount initiatives for packages. He said: “We’ve got a 70% discount running on hair removal at the moment. It’s very affordable and we always rotate our offers. We break up payment plans too at times to make it affordable."

He added: “Our concerns are that it’s never easy when franchise laser clinic chains are set up, as has happened recently in Plymouth. From the position we’re in at the moment we’re doing really well. We take our time with customers, we’re an independent business that offers a one-to-one service at Plymouth Laser Clinic. We listen and do a good job, we’d like continued support from the community as we’re an independent company.” Ben added that for a 28-day period, he’s offering up to 50% off treatments. You can like the Facebook page here and get in touch to find out more.