Northampton hairdresser celebrates 20 years in business and wins industry award for salon of the year

The team of 15 staff at The Hair Pavilion in Northampton are all smiles this month.

Not only are they celebrating owner Lucy Botterill's 20 years of salon success but they have also won an award for Salon of the Year.

Marketing manager, Oskar White, said Lucy never imagined when she opened the salon at 22 years old that she would still be thriving 20 years later.

He said: "We are not a town centre salon, we are based in the community and we look after a diverse range of customers.

"You don't have to be based in a town centre to make a big impact. The perception sometimes is if you're not in town but in a village then people forget about you but we have tried to make ourselves stand out.

"We are trying to make people forget about all that's going on for a moment and make them feel safe.

"Myself and Lucy are trying to create a vibe where you are visiting your friends instead of going to a salon where you are just getting your hair done."

Prestige Awards got in touch with the salon after seeing what a big impact the team of colleagues and friends have made in East Hunsbury this year.

After the first national lockdown the team sprung into action and made sure the well-being of their staff was at the forefront of their priority list with weekly, fun challenges.

They also put together self-taped YouTube tutorials so they could explain to their customers how to colour their hair and roots with their own home colour kits.

Oskar added: "We have tried to keep the staff's well-being up with Lip Sync battle challenges and quizzes over Zoom, even at the salon when we are working we are still socially distanced so we still don't get to talk that much so Zoom calls have been great.

"The award came really unexpectedly. Prestige saw what we were doing and put us forward for an award. On Tuesday this week they rang us and said we had won Salon of the Year for Central England.

"It's been very difficult for us this year and all businesses really and after what has happened it shows all the hard work has paid off. We are really thankful for the stylists who have worked with us over the past 20 years and our community."