The (Unexpected) Benefits of Entering The British Hairdressing Business Awards

From meeting potential new recruits to networking with inspirational people, there's a host of unexpected benefits of entering the British Hairdressing Business Awards. And with entries now open for 2024, here's a little reminder of what good the awards can bring to you and your career.

Salv Mulé, Business Director of the Year 2023, Director, Academy Salons 
"Entering prestigious awards is so great for brand awareness. Award ceremonies also provide the golden opportunity to learn from your fellow competitors, meet your heroes, and be inspired by luminaries in the industry. My team get so motivated every award season, setting their sights on being shortlisted finalists at the very least. Our successes have helped attract new blood into our company, and obviously these accolades really impress existing clients and attract new ones who have seen the media coverage or heard the word of mouth. The buzz around award ceremonies has inspired us to host our own annual ‘Academy Awards’ for our five salons to compete over. We always choose a glamorous venue and dress to the nines."

Laura Leigh Kerr, Rainbow Room International Academy Director, Educator of The Year 2023
"There are so many unexpected benefits when it comes to winning the BHBA's! Of course you expect some recognition from winning, however, the amount of recognition from not only Hairdresser's Journal but other magazines both within the industry and locally, is incredible. You're also recognised more by your peers in the industry and other educators. Winning the BHBA's is an incredible achievement and one you will want to shout about and by sharing the news on your social media platforms and in your salon windows, it will encourage clients through the door. For me, winning Educator of the Year twice at the awards, it's been great as it's also attracted youngsters who are aspiring hairdressers to want to start a hairdressing career at Rainbow Room International. In addition to this, being named Educator of the Year twice has been an additional topic of conversation when connecting with charities and organisations, allowing me to share with them my expertise and how this has been recognised within the industry."

Fergal Doyle, Independent Salon – Business Newcomer 2023
"Winning the BHBA was a moment of immense pride and total validation for our entire team. It proved to us that our hard work, long hours, creativity, and dedication we pour into the business every single day was paying off. It has motivated us to push ourselves, our work and our business further and continue setting new standards in the industry."

West and Hunter, Zamaine Ismail, Barbershop/Grooming Salon of the Year 2023
"We had a profound reaction from the West London community, it elevated not just Chiswick but the whole area to have the Barbershop of the Year which led to some amazing PR opportunities.”

Tommy & Esther van der Veken, Tommy’s Hair Company
"We are extremely fortunate to have attended the British Hairdressing Business Awards on many occasions and have also won several times, which is a huge accolade for the entire team within Tommy’s Hair Company – it’s something we are immensely proud of. The awards themselves have impacted us greatly, with clients opting to visit our salons because we are ‘award winning’ and they feel a sense of proudness when they visit. Over our years of winning, our client base has grown and we often see an influx of new clients when we are awarded a new tittle which is fantastic. Having won a variety of titles of the years, these have helped raise our profile within the local area, resulted in multiple news articles on our wins and helped us achieve a great salon status within both Llandudno and Ruthin. As well as winning at the awards, we absolutely love networking and have came across many different salons and business owners from many walks of life. It’s great to connect with likewise individuals in the industry, meet new faces and develop relationships which in turn grow into friendships. We always enjoy catching up with some of our friends such as Sally and Jamie Brooks, Mark Woolley and Rainbow Room to name a few." 

Victor & Sandra Pajak owners, Headquarters Hair Salon   
"We've won six British Hairdressing Business Awards and each win has brought lovely, unexpected benefits. Winning "Independent Salon of the Year" three times was probably the most defining and influential achievement in our 23 year history. It definitely attracted new clients to us – but we were delighted to discover that it also brought us new team-members, hairdressers that were ambitious and wanted to work for an award-winning salon. Many of those stylists are still with us, 15 years after that award-win. Those awards also led to us becoming a L'Oreal Portfolio Salon - and being part of this immensely supportive, collaborative and inspirational community of top hairdressers has been hugely beneficial in many ways, both professionally and personally. But it's not just the winning that brings surprising benefits. We quickly found that the process of entering an award means that you scrutinise your business very closely, and that always led to us making changes which further improved our performance in areas like customer care and marketing, whether we won or not".

Melissa Timperley, owner of Melissa Timperley, Manchester
"Entering (and winning!) the BHBA’s has been hugely beneficial to me and my business in so many ways. There’s the obvious benefits such as raising mine and the salons profile and the sense of achievement felt throughout the whole team, knowing we have not only been recognised but awarded for being at the top of our business game.

Unexpected benefits would have to making new connections and forming relationships across the industry – from salon owners to brands, but also my business consultant, Penny Etheridge and my PR agency, LWPR. I met them both at the BHBA’s and I haven’t looked back since!"