The rand rocket annual conference

I’ve just returned from a long weekend in the lovely coastal resort of Vilamoura in Portugal, where I was attending the Rand Rocket annual conference. Despite a 2.30 am start, in order to catch a plane from Gatwick (and the late arrival of my taxi, which was dutifully parked outside a house in completely the wrong borough of London) I was parked in my seat ready for the 10th Annual Rand Rocket Conference.Managing director, David Vickers, delivered his welcome speech with his usual relaxed charm – all part of what makes the Rand Rocket Conferences special in the industry. It’s also one of the few events where partners and families are welcome (assuming the wholesale company concerned has sold enough scissors and accessories to qualify, of course) and the presence of the entire Vickers family, including company founder Randolph Vickers, is at the heart of the conference’s unique atmosphere. The biggest news of this year’s conference was the launch of the Rand Rocket Academy, an initiative that will see trainers from some of the big names in hairdressing – including Hooker & Young, Paul Stafford and Ishoka – offer training at a local level, using facilities provided by Rand Rocket wholesalers across the UK. Also signed up as an educator with the Academy is Paul Falltrick of Falltrick’s Hairdressing, who attended the conference to confirm his support for the scheme and stress the importance of education. As always with Rand Rocket, there was plenty of fun to go with the business element. For golfers, Vilamoura offers an enviable choice of courses, and for the remaining delegates there was the Rand Rocket Go-Karting Challenge. The last night saw delegates dressed to the nines for the Rand Rocket Oscars, where awards included Most Fanciable Male (I didn’t even get a nomination!); Best Vocal Performance (a nomination here, but no trophy) and Lifetime Achievement (I didn’t expect a nomination for this one, which went to a deserving Randolph Vickers.)