30 years of british hairdressing awards memories

As HJ's British Hairdressing Awards celebrates its 30th anniversary, we take a look back at three decades of amazing hairdressing memories. 1. "Winning British Hairdresser of the Year the first time was a real surprise; I did not expect it at all and I was in total shock. It was hugely rewarding and very humbling to be honoured by my peers. My work is so different that I didn’t think it would be to everyone’s taste. Winning has proven to me that if you do what your heart tells you and go with your gut feeling, it will be rewarded in the end.” Angelo Seminara 2. “I won 3 awards in 1985; one was joint London Hairdresser along with Anthony Mascolo, the second was the national award (which doesn’t exist anymore), then I won British. It was the first ever awards which it made it that bit more special than any of the other times I won. It catapulted me into our industry in a way that no other achievement could have done. My advice to any young person is enter any award or competition you can for the simple reason it gives you the encouragement to continue and to push yourself. The most important part of entering any competition is that it brings your best out of you and that can only be good. I recommend any youngster to have a go.” Trevor Sorbie 3. “My first Awards was in 1991 when I was up for Northern Irish. I was so young! Everyone I saw was one of my heroes: Anthony Mascolo, Trevor Sorbie, Andrew Collinge… they were all sitting beside me or nearby. I didn’t eat a thing all night. I went to the loo at one point and stood beside Charlie Miller, who asked if I was up for something. I was so nervous I told him I was nominated for British Hairdresser of the Year!” Paul Stafford 4. “My first memory of the British Hairdressing Awards was back in 2007; a friend of mine had a copy of HJ which had all the award-winning images in from that year. I felt an instant buzz of excitement and knew there and then that it was what I wanted. When I shared my dream of entering everyone laughed at me, but I was determined to never give up trying; their laughter gave me the determination to show what I was capable of, and that is what got me to where I am today.” Seung-ki Baek 5. "I was overwhelmed and delighted to win British Hairdresser of the Year. It really made my year. I couldn’t believe it when my name was called out as I been nominated a few times and was totally astounded to hear that I had won." Antoinette Beenders 6. " I was sitting with the late, great Umberto Giannini when I first heard about the awards. I said to him, 'wouldn't it be great if that was us up there one day?’ Years later I was up there. I will never forget my three Afro Hairdresser of the Year wins and the warmth and love from the industry in congratulating me on those nights. To have so many people giving me their best wishes is what our industry is all about. There was such enthusiasm that the award actually toppled to the floor - but I rescued it very quickly!" Errol Douglas MBE 7. “When I first started out in the industry, it was seeing the wins by Trevor Sorbie that first got me excited about the artistic side of hairdressing. To this day he’s still an inspiration to me. Each year reignites my passion for the industry and seeing close friends win gives me the drive to keep going and entering myself.” Ian Marshall 8. “The first time I ever attended the Awards was in 2005 when Lisa Shepherd won British Hairdresser of the Year. I was HOOKED! She totally inspired me to work harder, realise my dreams and stop imagining that it would never happen for me. After eight years of trying, in 2013, I was finally nominated for Southern Hairdresser of the Year. I still can’t believe that I am now part of this event after watching from the sidelines for so long.” Kerry Mather 9. "This year is my 30th anniversary in hairdressing and I can clearly remember the month that I started working in my first salon. It was November and I remember looking at HJ and seeing Trevor Sorbie on the cover when he won the first British Hairdresser of the Year. I just thought to myself, 'how can I get to win one of those awards'? I was determined from that very first month of my hairdressing career to win one. Now 30 years later and my salons have reached the final for 32 awards and won 13, and here I am on my 30th anniversary as a British Hairdresser of the Year nominee.” Mark Leeson 10. “I have always wanted to attend the British Hairdressing Awards and attended for the first time in 2013. It totally blew me away. The energy and the sheer talent on display is amazing and it was one of the most motivational, energising and inspiring events I've ever been to in my 26 years of hairdressing.” Gary Hedley 11. "I first became a finalist at the British Hairdressing Awards in 2008. It was like a dream come true. This year will be the fifth time I have been a finalist and I feel very proud to be part of the awards in its 30th year.” Melenie Tudor 12. “My most vivid memory from the awards comes from 2012, when I was shortlisted for Wales and Southwest. If I won, it would be my third time which would mean I’d become the first Welshman to enter the Hall of Fame. It was covered by Welsh TV, so when they announced my name I thought just enjoy it – thinking it might be the last time I went up on the stage. However, an hour later my name was announced as Colour Technician of the Year! To have a double win on the night was just incredible: something I’d never dreamt of.” Ken Picton 13. “I first entered the awards when I was 23. I was given a very privileged opportunity to prove myself by Terry Calvert, who let me loose with my own direction and creativity. I produced the looks, got the shots in the bag and entered Newcomer for the first time. On the night I was blown away when my name was called out as the winner. It was the most-awe inspiring moment and the biggest adrenalin rush walking up on stage to receive the trophy, then turning to thank my peers.” Darren Ambrose 14. “I attended the awards from early on in my career and was on the fringe of teams that won. This is what has always driven me – so that the accolades can be accredited to me, and not just colleagues that I work with. Winning Artistic Team of the Year 3 times with the HOB Team and entering Hall of Fame was a massive highlight. Also the first Year Akin won British was amazing and ,of course, when I won London in 2009! To win something on my own will be something I will never forget.” Darren Bain 15. “Winning my region at the inaugural British Hairdressing Awards is a special memory for me. It was the first event of its kind and a memorable occasion for me; it gave me the impetus to set the goal to one day become British Hairdresser of the Year. Nine years later I achieved my goal, and I maintain that it was rubbing shoulders with the hairdressing greats in 1984 that gave me the motivation to strive for British.” Andrew Collinge 16. “To win Eastern Hairdresser of the Year in 2013 was a highlight of my career, but to have three nominations this year – Eastern again, Artistic Team and Colour – still hasn't really sunk in. The awards are the team’s highlight of the year and everyone really looks forward to it; they’ve been talking about their dresses for weeks. The buzz in the salon is immense and even reaching the finals is great recognition for how hard the team works.” Angelo Vallillo 17. “When Peter started on his own back in 1998 he showed me a salon in Worcester that had won awards (Umberto Gianinni) and said that all he ever wanted was to get nominated for the British Hairdressing Awards and to be able to put that accolade in his own salon window. We entered the awards for several years after that and he always told the staff that if he ever got nominated, we would take everybody to the event - and that would be our Christmas Party. When we did get nominated in 2004 (10 whole years ago) I went grey overnight! Our business was still growing and I now had to factor taking 20 people to the awardss and putting them up overnight. It was a very expensive Christmas party - but what a party we had; I have never been able to top it! We actually won the Midlands category that night and to go from just wanting to be nominated to actually winning was one of those feelings that you never forget. Although it was 10 years ago, sometimes it feels like it was yesterday. There is nothing that compares to winning at the British Hairdressing Awards - the motivation it gives the team is just tremendous.” Tracey Prosser 18. “I started to look at the awards about 10 years ago. I went on a photoshoot day to get the feel of what’s involved then went to the awards to see what it was like. From then on, I’ve looked back. In fact, that same week I booked my first shoot for the following year's entry and was thrilled just to be nominated. That year I had some good friends also in my catergory whose images I loved and they deserved to win and Ii was just as thrilled for them. I won my category in 2012 and it was a night I will never forget; not just the winning but the support I was given by all my friends, colleagues and the people who advised and helped from day one. You cannot describe the feeling and it’s amazing to be in a room with such admirable hairdressers who make you proud to be a British Hairdressing Awards winner.” Gary Taylor 19. "The first time I attended the British Hairdressing Awards was when I was invited for dinner by a supplier and [my business partner] Simon and I were focusing heavily on building up our salons. The awards blew us away and gave us an insight into an industry which we instantly realized we wanted to be a part of. My personal highlight was when Dan Spiller won Newcomer of the Year. We were so so proud of him and it was an amazing feeling to see one of our own up there." 20. “The meal we had before I won my second award was memorable. We'd booked the chef's table at Gordon Ramsay's Maze but Katherine, our salon manager was unhappy with her steak and sent it back. Gordon just so happened to be in the restaurant at the time so, of course, had to come over to find out the problem. He ended up joining us at the table and once it was time to leave, he shook my hand and wished me luck for the night; not a profanity in sight! It was a fabulous evening and that special touch made it stand out even more!” Kevin Kahan