CHAPTER 27:

It became apparent that 5 years after opening our Ipswich Academy, we needed to downsize. Whilst the space was brilliant, 50% was unused and the upkeep was just too expensive. In retrospect, we were wildly optimistic in building a Hairdressing School of the same proportions of our London premises at a rental level probably unheard of in Suffolk.

Our landlord was happy to take the premises back and in late ‘17, we relocated our Ipswich Academy into the centre of town in a much more user friendly unit, having been lucky enough to spot a Hairdressing salon that had closed. Having plumbing, air conditioning and a sufficient supply of electricity already in place kept the moving costs down as we also had all our equipment from the previous location.

Being smaller than the original premises made us much more aware of the way most hair salons make best use of all available space. It looks busy most of the time and running a smaller unit means running costs are kept down. Careful planning ensures that whilst space is at a premium it really works. The new location, in Queen Street next to TK Maxx has really worked out well. We have a Town Centre location, with parking nearby and it looks just like a smart salon.

Clearly this didn’t please everyone! Shortly after we relocated, one Team member left, followed by all the others over a short period. Salons that we worked with since we opened the Ipswich school stopped calling. We employed all new staff, people who knew the salons in and around the area and soon it became apparent to them that someone was plotting our downfall. A chance call from a friend alerted us to the fact that someone was contacting all the salons and barbershops telling them we had closed down.

We immediately went into rescue mode, contacting the salons we trained for and their trainees, both online and on the phone, making it crystal clear we were very much still alive and kicking! A disaster was averted and business picked up again very quickly until a phone call late in December from our new funding partners telling us that a complaint had been lodged against the Ipswich Team for ‘faking qualifications and assessments’. You could not make this up. Our partners at CTG got straight on the phone to me explaining the nature of the complaint. I gave them permission to close our premises, contact all the students involved and to clarify the nonsense of this complaint. Needless to say, 24 hours later we not only got the all clear, but an extra number of students looking to upskill to NVQ Level 3! It’s just so sad that this complaint was not allowed to be investigated properly because it was phoned in anonymously and we had absolutely no comeback.