A meeting of hairdressing business minds
British Hairdressing Business Awards Business Directors of the Year 2007, Alan and Linda Stewart are the directors of Scotland's most successful hair salon group Rainbow Room International.
The astute duo put a strong emphasis on training and education and the belief that you should never stop learning; so naturally they were happy to share the benefit of their wisdom with this year's Business Director of the Year finalists.
Here's what the acclaimed hairdressing business minds had to say:
Having had so much success with the British Hairdressing Business Awards I would love to know what difference it has made to you both personally and professionally and how you have made the most of your success? Barrie Stephen
The difference to us is that it is a great motivator for the team and that they really feel proud to be part of a successful group that they have contributed towards.
We personally feel honoured to be recognised for our hard work and our dedication to our business. We have had a lot of editorial from our national business press, which helps in raising the professionalism of our company and our industry and aids recruitment.
We have also gained from entering the awards by looking at our business very closely and constantly working or changing what is not working as well as it should be.
How have you handled the downturn in the current economic climate? Phil Smith
In Scotland, we've not suffered from the impact of the downturn yet. In the last recession it did not have the same impact on us the way it did in England because we do not get as much of a boom or burst.
However, with the opening of our new academy we have increased the amount of training for our team, resulting in delivering better quality and service to a market that is looking for great value for money.
Last year we launched our bespoke online computer system. Clients have to pay a £10 deposit when they book online but members of our Online Club receive a discount of £5 for the booking. Therefore, if a client books a haircut at £50 they end up paying only £35 on the day of their visit, so psychologically they feel they have got a bargain.
We feel that clients will always continue to have their hair done but might spread their visits out a bit more, but this booking system has actually increased their number of visits.
The hardest thing for me to manage in the salon is the HR department - is it done in-house or do you seek external help? Tracey Devine
We have systems in place to manage HR. We use a service provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland called Mentor, it is expensive but it provides hand books for managers and team members, contracts of employment, letters, forms and stationary for interviewing, hiring, holiday request forms, absence forms and more.
Our bookkeeper manages and pays the wages, keeps records of holidays and absences. Our bespoke IT system prints out all sorts of reports that we can monitor and use to assess performance.
All new trainees have to be interviewed and assessed by our Manager of Education then she designates a certain number to each individual salon to be interviewed. Each salon is then responsible for hiring and dismissing their own team with the help of the systems in place.
If you could change one major thing in the British Hairdressing Industry what would it be? Andy Phouli
It is not so much the hairdressing industry we would change, but the Government legislation that surrounds it. There seems to be more and more legislation and red tape and this really affects the way you run your business.
When we started out, we found different ways of rewarding our top people, but now you cannot differentiate between your staff in any way and everyone has to receive the same benefits. This has made us amend our systems.
Also the minimum wage makes it difficult to take on and train older team members.
If we could wave a magic wand we would love to make our industry VAT exempt and the money saved to be invested in training.
If fate hadn't brought you together all those years ago, how different do you think your business lives would have been i.e. would you still be hairdressing or one hairdressing; one property? Give us a snapshot of your individual strengths. Lisa Shepherd
We would definitely still be in hairdressing. Alan opened his first salon in Buchanan Street Glasgow and I joined as a member of his team, we opened the second salon together as business partners, it was only later our personal relationship bloomed.
If we were not together we would still be in the business but our individual strengths have helped to make our business stronger.
Alan's strengths are: Thinking totally outside the box and constantly pushing boundaries. He is a very detailed methodical person.
Linda's strengths are: A very organised person. Ensures that things get done.
Our joint strengths are: Being great motivators and educators, spotting the potential in people. nurturing them and making them successful. We both understand the financial side of the business and we have set up systems for everything.
To sum this up, our biggest strength is understanding and being able to do everyone's job while being very creative within the business side of our company.
There is obviously no room for complacency at Rainbow Room International. But do you ever stand still and think yes we have made it!? Ken Picton
We don't ever think we have made it! Our growth has been very organic and we have grown with the business. We are also very self-critical and always feel we can improve on what we have achieved.
We have never taken our success for granted with all the risks, stress and hard work that we have put in and we still continue to push our company forward.
What emphasis do you put on training within Rainbow Room and do you train internally or externally? Scott SmurthwaiteWe are extremely passionate about education and have opened our own training academy in Glasgow city centre, where we train all of our team members.
The Academy of Hair is one of the largest in Europe and is open to students from across the UK and Europe.
Training is one of the most important parts of hairdressers' career, it is essential to put the effort in to nurture and build confidence within your stylists.
British Hairdressing Business Awards on HJi
