6 March 2014
An NHBF salon owner and one of her apprentices were invited to 10 Downing Street today [Thursday] as the government launched the next stage of its apprenticeship reforms, with hairdressing, barbering and beauty now right at the heart of mapping out the future of work-based training.
On Tuesday the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced its second wave of trailblazer employers who will work to develop and test new models for more employer-based and employer-led frameworks for apprenticeships. A small, core group led by Hellen Ward, managing director of Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa and George Hammer, chairman of beauty salon Urban Retreat, will be supported by working groups for hairdressing, barbering and beauty.
NHBF member Wendy Cummins, owner of Quiffys salon in Eastleigh, Hampshire, who is on the hairdressing working group, was invited to 10 Downing Street for the launch event. One of her hairdressing apprentices, Hayley Robertson, was given the honour of doing a demonstration for the assembled politicians and media.
Wendy said: “It was fantastic to visit, and see inside, Number 10. Many, many salons up and down the country support and nurture apprentices – as an industry we have a huge role to play in offering young people not just the opportunity to join a passionate, exciting and creative industry but also, in time, the chance to start up their own businesses and really make their mark.”
Hayley said: “I felt really honoured to be asked to demonstrate, but it was definitely nerve-wracking! Hairdressing offers so much support to young people, so it’s only right salons have a say in improving training and opportunities.”
The government’s ambition is to develop apprenticeships that can be explained on a single sheet of A4, work for both small and large businesses and which, crucially, will include relevant, practical testing and grading at the end of the training.
NHBF chief executive Hilary Hall said:
We are absolutely delighted NHBF members will be at the heart of our industry’s involvement in the government’s reform agenda for apprenticeships, both in terms of being trailblazers themselves and in helping to lead the working groups.