Member Article

Award Winning Saks Apprentices hit bright lights of the capital

This year Saks Apprenticeships scoured the length and breadth of the country to find the best of the best apprentices to compete in the annual Saks Apprentice Awards competition.

All entrants were invited to take part in southern and northern heats in advanced and intermediate hairdressing, beauty therapy, and barbering apprentice of the year categories.

Each apprentice displayed real talent, passion and creativity throughout the competition however; the judges narrowed it down to eight winners, three of which are from the North East.

Not only were our finalists awarded Apprentice of the year in their category; they were also given the opportunity to join Luke Pluckrose, Creative Director of the Saks Art Team at the Saks London Academy for a photoshoot.

But first, they created mood boards for their signature looks; with Luke by their sides the winners researched styles that they felt would put their skills and knowledge to the test.

Styles chosen, models booked and photographer ready, many of the apprentices travelled hundreds of miles to bring their ideas to life.

Winners of last year’s Saks Apprenticeships Style Stars competition- a yearlong mentoring programme with the award winning Saks Art Team- also joined our apprentices in the capital.

Carrie Fisher, level three Beauty Apprentice award winner said: “I loved every minute of the Apprentice Awards, from initially entering the competition, to working with Luke on my final look.

“It was an eye opening, and amazing experience to see what exactly goes into a professional photo shoot. It was also great to learn tips and tricks of the trade from the experts- I had so much fun and would love to do it again.”

With a little help from Luke and two experienced Saks Educators, Georgina Woodward and Lisa Forward the award winners got a taste of what is involved in a fashion hair and beauty shoot.

Mandy Durkin, National Training Manager at Saks Apprenticeships said: “We really are proud of our apprentices and all the hard work they put into achieving their qualifications. The concept behind the apprentice awards is to reward our learners for their dedication, but to also show them another side to the hair and beauty industry they might not have experienced before.

“Each individual look the apprentices created is so creative and on trend. We have actually entered these images into the National Hairdressing Federations photographic competition, Stylist of the Year 2016, under the students and trainees category.”

If you are a Saks Apprentice, and interested in entering next year’s awards you can register your interest with your Saks Educator.

Saks Apprenticeships was established in 2000 and have since trained over 5,000 apprentices across the country.

Saks Apprenticeships were recently named the UK’s number one training provider for employer satisfaction in a survey administered by The Skills Funding Agency.

Delivering quality training in Hairdressing, Barbering, Beauty Therapy and Management; Saks Apprenticeships have also been granted Beacon Status by the Quality Improvement Agency.

For more information about Saks Apprenticeships, head to www.saksapprenticeships.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rebecca Robertson .