Sunderlands award-winning salon strikes again!

After a busy summer of applications, the team headed to our third awards night of this month! We attended each evening with high hopes, having been nominated for at least one category in each. First up was the lovely Annabelle, who was nominated for the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award in recognition of her hard work and determination, in what has been a busy and challenging year for her. We were also on the cards for two other great awards, including ‘Employer of the Year’ and ‘Small Business of the Year.’

In a similar fashion to last year, the awards were hosted by the wonderful folks at the Stadium of Light. The venue is a fantastic location for these awards and we were once again treated to fantastic hospitality, great food and excellent company from Sunderland Football Club legends, Jimmy Montgomery, Kev Ball and Bob Murray.

There was plenty of roaring talent and competition amongst the other nominees. We were up against some fantastic local organisations including Hays Travel, Sunderland College and Berghaus, to mention just a few.

After the introductory welcome speech from Sunderland City Council Leader Graham Miller, the night of celebrations began and the awards kicked off in style.The first award was for ‘Apprentice of the Year’ and our table filled with hair stylists, wig specialists, beauticians, media gurus and more all had their fingers tightly crossed.

To our absolute delight, we struck gold and our very own Annabelle was the winner. She took to the stage to collect her award which was presented and sponsored by the Sunderland Echo. We are are absolutely thrilled for Annabelle and we believe that she is so deserving in every aspect of this fantastic award. She has grown from strength to strength this year, having successfully finished off all her qualifications whilst working a business diary; and finding the time to help grow our new wig business.

Unfortunately, we didn’t win our other two nominations but we were been shortlisted for two. Annabelle’s big win was success enough for however and we continued to celebrate late into the evening. But, we weren’t finished there! Our sister company, The Wonderful Wig Company, was also nominated for three awards, after a wildly successful few years as a fledgling business.

The company was down for the ‘Social Enterprise Award’, ‘Employer of the Year’ and the ‘Special Community Award’. The awards went by one by one but The Wonderful Wig Company wasn’t to be a winner that night. To conclude the evening, the judges announced that there would be three special awards that were put forward by themselves, which there had been no application process for.

Amazingly, Nicola our fantastic creative director was first up on the stage collecting the ‘Special Recognition Award’ for her truly fantastic work in serving clients across the North East, with a hair loss service like no other.  One judge said: “They are transforming peoples lives.” Another said: “They should be so very proud of what they do.”

Here’s Nicola receiving her award from SAFC Executive Director Charlie Methven (left) and Joy Yates (right) Editorial Director of the Sunderland Echo. Read the full article here:

Stay tuned for more information on our next award attendance for The North East Business Women of the Year Awards (WIN Awards) at Grand Gosforth Park Hotel on Friday 22nd November.  The awards, now in their 20th year, present a great chance to showcase hard work and achievements during the previous twelve months. We can’t wait!