10 years younger is a great platform for hairdressing - andrew

This week started with a lovely evening in London for the HABB ball. It was a great opportunity for people in the industry to get together and really remember what HABB is all about.

HABB is a great little charity that helps people within the hair industry when they need it most. I do what I can for the cause and I talk about it whenever I have an opportunity to do so. If I had a little more time on my hands I would like to be involved in the committee.

The HABB Ball raises a lot of money for the charity and it was a great evening too - I was like a social butterfly, buzzing around chatting to everyone. There was a lot of chat about the new series of 10 Years Younger, which started last week.

Everyone agreed that the new format looks fantastic and really showcases the difference that great hair can make. I think it is a great platform for all hairdressers and, personally speaking, my phone has been going mad since it aired!

The only negative about Monday night was that I had to be on the 6.15am train up to Manchester to teach a course so getting up was a bit of a struggle!

I was teaching L'Oréal's designer cutting course, which explores where trends come from and how the techniques are made. Often when people go on that type of course, they are looking for inspiration, but what I try to do is leave them with something longer lasting so that they can dig deep into their creativity and find their own inspiration.

It is all very well giving them something rigid to follow but where does that leave them afterwards?

I love teaching hairdressing. It has been a big part of my career and something I did from an early age, although everyone who teaches will agree that it is quite mentally exhausting.

You might have 15 students in the group and they are all different standards and what means one thing to one person could mean something completely different to someone else but you still want them all to get as much as they possibly can out of the course.

I also teach one-to-ones and to small groups and, even in this financial downturn, my training classes are still booked way in advance. I think the secret is to deliver beyond people's expectations and that is what I always try to do.