Enfield News
Enfield salon up against hair 'big boys' in English Hair and Beauty Awards
12:20pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012
A salon in Enfield will fight to prove it is a cut above the rest, in an effort to win a major hairdressing competition.
James Whitaker, who has owned James Whitaker in Lancaster Road for eight years, relied entirely on customer votes to get his salon into the final of the English Hair and Beauty Awards 2012.
The competition, which is the first of its kind in the UK, having previously only run in Scotland, celebrates high quality hairdressing and hard work in the hair industry.
Mr Whitaker and his three female hairdressers at his salon will compete against nine other salons in London, including the salon responsible for Kate Middleton’s hair on her wedding day, the Richard Ward hair salon in Chelsea.
The winner, which will be the salon with the highest amount of customer votes, will be announced at a black-tie ceremony at The Midland Hotel in Manchester on May 6.
Mr Whitaker, who was born in Bushill Park, but now lives in St Albans, said: "It’s great to be through to the final because it shows that little old Enfield has been marked with the big boys.
“It would be really nice to put Enfield on the map, and the customers are as excited about it as we are.”
The hairdressers collected votes from customers visiting the salon while spreading the message on his social media sites.
The Katie Piper Foundation is the official charity supporting the event, which is dedicated to helping people who have been affected by burns and scars.
Mr Whitaker and his staff will meet Katie Piper, a former model and television presenter who was the victim of an acid attack in 2008.
The hairdresser also got through to the final stages of a hair competition for fashion company American Crew in November.
The process, which did not rely on customer votes, called for Mr Whitaker to select latest hair trends for a series of black and white photographs.
The London hair salons competing against James Whitaker’s salon are Eleven Hair, Webster Whiteman, Andrew Barton Salon, The One Hairdressing, Hob Salon Potters Bar, Headmasters Mayfair, Richard Ward, the Chapel Islington and Joshua Altback.