Inspiring Business by Sharing Success

Leicester salon recognised for its community support in national award

Leicester salon recognised for its community support in national award

Barrie Stephen Hair has been proclaimed the country’s most outward focused hairdressing business by the National Hair and Beauty Federation.

The multi-award winning Leicestershire salon group picked up the title of Best Community Support salon at the NHBF Awards at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London on 18 November.

Barrie’s clear dedication to the local community secured the win. The last decade has seen the four strong salon business link with many local charities and initiatives. Most recently, thanks to sponsored dog walks and a ‘Barrie’s Got Talent Dog Show, £5,000 was raised for Leicester Animal Aid following Barrie’s appointment as Ambassador for the charity.  The new role for Leicester Animal Aid comes after a long stint of Barrie being a trustee for the RSCPA’s Project Woodside for which he and his team raised over £25,000 through ticketed and salon events. 

Partnering with the community has been a consistent priority for the business headquartered in King Street in the city centre. Over the last decade, Barrie and his team have run numerous community engagement campaigns. ‘Local Heroes’ saw people nominated by clients and team to receive makeovers in the salon. Fit for Leicestershire was all about delivering beautiful hairdressing to places where it’s not always found. Stylists went into Glenfield hospital to offer free hair appointments for ladies in treatment for breast surgery. The team threw an appreciation day for nurses from the Leicester General Hospital and LRI, they went into Women’s Aid to offer their expertise, and donated essential items for ‘moving in packs’ for homeless charity Action Homeless.

The hairdressing business has also linked with The Curve for pre-theatre styling, it collaborates with DMU for their fashion show events, and regularly supports their Festival of Careers. This month, Barrie was speaker at a DMUworks Entrepreneurship Day.

“As a local business owner, I consider myself very much part of the community,” Barrie says. “For over a decade, myself and the team of 70 has blended the running of a successful salon group with charitable work for  local good causes. Each salon location has its own individual market and builds connections locally for each business – and those relationships run deep. Honouring people in the community and validating what they do goes a long way.”

Barrie Stephen launched his Barrie Stephen Hair business 23 years ago in Anstey, and has since grown his start-up into a four-strong salon business including a training academy and barbershop spread across the county, in Ashby, Anstey, Narborough, and in the city centre. He was this year named the first ever patron for Leicester’s Sir Thomas White Loan Charity, whose support enabled Barrie to launch his own business in 1996, when he transformed an old butcher’s shop in Anstey into his first high-class boutique salon.

NHBF President, Ian Egerton said:

“The entries we received this year were of an extraordinarily high quality and the judges were hugely impressed. Choosing the overall winners from such a strong field of finalists was a tough task, and we’d like to congratulate everyone who made it to the final.

“Receiving a NHBF Business Award is a huge accomplishment for Barrie Stephen Hair so they should be thrilled with what they have achieved!”

Barrie and his team have been nationally praised for their involvement in the local community for over a decade now, picking up nominations and awards for best local salon, and best regional salon group from hairdressing industry magazines as well as team wins at HJ’s British Hairdressing Business Awards.

 


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