Northampton salon double nominated for national awards after just 10 months open

A Northampton salon, which has only been open since January this year, has been nominated for two national awards at a 2023 award ceremony.

Empire Aesthetics, located in the business owner’s home in Duston, has been shortlisted in the top 50 in the country in the ‘best for aesthetics’ and 'best new salon’ categories at the UK Hair and Beauty Awards 2023.

Founder and owner Nicola Robinson, 37, had always wanted to enter the world of beauty and she has not looked back since going on a training course and setting up her salon at the start of this year.

Nicola said: “It’s something I’d always wanted to do and I finally took the leap. To be nominated for awards by my clients only 10 months into setting up is amazing – I never expected it.

“Setting up a business on my own has been a lot of hard work. You don’t realise how stressful it can be as things get busier and busier.”

The business owner said to herself that if the business did not pan out like she had hoped, she would get another job – but through word of mouth and social media, her client base is still expanding.

From January to May, Nicola was still working in her previous job part time, but after those five months she gave it up completely because she was having to turn clients away.

“People told me I was silly and I wouldn’t get the custom because of the struggles of coming out the other side of the pandemic and the rising cost of living,” said Nicola. “But that hasn’t been the case at all.”

The 37-year-old runs the business from a salon built in her garden, as this was a more affordable alternative to renting somewhere. She is now even looking to hire someone to run her social media.

Nicola says even if she does not bag the top spots, she will still feel “amazing” as being nominated for two awards this early on in her aesthetics career shows “hard work truly does pay off”.