Monday 12 September 2016: Yorkshire salon group, Westrow, is celebrating after winning at this year’s prestigious Hairdressers Journal International’s British Hairdressing Business Awards, standing tall over a vast industry of 245,745 professional UK hairdressers who work in just 35,000 hairdressing salons**.
The salon group took home the trophy for the Training award, sponsored by Wella Professionals, at the glittering awards ceremony held at the Lancaster London Hotel, hallmarking the lead into its 30th year in business in April 2017 perfectly.
Westrow’s state-of-the-art educational centre of excellence, Westrow Academy, housed on Briggate in Leeds, has been placed firmly on the hairdressing map for education, as it scooped the award for its commendable training policies. The £1 million investment to launch the Academy, in November 2013, has seen the company grow to become one of the most established and recognised training facilities in the UK, able to house 240 students at any one time and attracting some of the biggest names in the business.
The judges were wowed by Westrow’s training and mentoring programmes and how the interactive academy implements policies to ensure it offers unrivalled education to its own students and the industry at large.
Danielle Hill, Westrow Academy Educator said: “Training is fundamental and runs through everything we do at Westrow. I truly believe we deliver the very best training, so to be recognised by the industry at large for this is incredible. I’d like to thank front of house and our educators for doing such a fantastic job, and to everyone at Westrow – you are all key to our company’s success.”
Steve Rowbottom, Director, Westrow added: “Education is key to our growth strategy and at the heart of what we do. Not only do we train our staff to understand and develop the Westrow way, but we also educate outside of the salon business to the industry at large. Winning this award is testament to our hairdressing services, which are underpinned with passion and creativity, while our technical strength is the result of the brand’s continually evolving education. Education is in our blood, we have first-hand knowledge of what it takes to succeed, and will continue to deliver results year on year.”
Hairdressers Journal International’s executive director, Jayne Lewis-Orr said: “It is a great honour to have salons like Westrow Academy within the industry as they are setting a new benchmark for other salons to follow. It is because of businesses like this that the UK hairdressing industry retains its position as the most highly esteemed in the world. British hairdressing is one of this country’s most positive business messages and of that, we are incredibly proud. The future looks very bright as this recession resistant sector forecasts women’s haircare product sales alone to grow 9% to reach £1.51 billion by 2020*. In the hands of these phenomenal business thinkers we can see why.”
*Mintel Report (2016) ‘Because he’s worth it’
**Habia (2016) http://www.habia.org/industry/overview Last accessed: 4th July 2016
