Rested, relaxed and raring to go - andrew

I hope everyone had a tremendous Christmas and brilliant new year. When we get back to work in the first weeks of January, it’s a little like one of those aftermath scenes from a movie - everyone feels a little shell-shocked. Fresh back from my holidays in the sun, which was obviously paradise - how could one of those water bungalows in the Indian Ocean not be? - and thankfully I’ve not had to start the new year with a dreaded resolution! What with yoga in the morning, Thai Chai in the afternoon, plenty of massages (all in the name of research, of course) and far too much swimming, I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in a long time! Mark my words; I’m going to need it, though.The new year always starts with a flurry of excitement at the Saks Academies. It's one of the busiest times of the year with hundreds of students from the UK and overseas visiting to refresh their skills and find out all that’s new for the year ahead. The new Saks Indulgence Collection, which is all about glamour, is the starting point for the year educationally and with all of our stylists due at the Academies for up-close and personal education throughout January, it's all go! They say no rest for the wicked, and we’ll shortly be opening our Scotland Academy right in the heart of Glasgow; as well as new salons each month throughout the UK. I know my lovely new Smythson notebooks (I’m a 'stationary whore', as my friend Rebecca calls me!) that I got for Christmas are going to come in very handy for all the meetings with the Saks Art Team in the weeks ahead. Tracey Gallagher, our Shows Director, and I have much planning to do for the shows we’ve got coming up both in the UK and overseas! I’ve just got a feeling that 2008 is going to be busier than ever - especially with the launch of my first product range, Shiny Happy Hair, to hit the shelves in February. I can’t wait. I’ll tell you more about that next week and show you some sneak preview shots of how it looks. As you can imagine, it’s been a dream come true designed my own product range, from fragrance to packaging, formula to names. It's been great fun! Look forward to catching up with you next week and don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you want to say hello. Happy New Year!