Apprenticeships - Hairdressing / Barbering | Blackpool and The Fylde College

Heads You Win...

Hairdressing is an exciting, fashionable industry that’s perfect for those with an eye for style and a talent for creativity. If you like meeting new people and getting to know all about them as well, then you’ve got just about all the personal qualities salon owners look for in an Apprentice.

As an Apprentice, you’ll get to know the ins and out of the business while you greet customers and generally help out around the salon. Pretty soon though, you’ll be assisting stylists, advising clients on what styles best suit their hair and learning how to trim, cut, layer, colour, perm and blow dry for yourself.

You’ll learn about other things as well, such as health and safety or diagnosing and advising on hair and scalp problems. Even business and salon management. Once qualified, your career can take you in almost any direction.

There are over 31,000 salons in the UK employing around 180,000 people. Hotels, hospitals and care homes, cruise liners, film and photographic studios and Armed Forces bases all need hairdressers as well. Later on, you might choose to be your own boss and rent a chair in a salon or even take your talents on the road and become a mobile hairdresser.

If you’re enthusiastic, well groomed and eager to learn, we’ll make sure your Apprenticeship as a hairdresser or barber gets you off to the best possible start.

Meet the Apprentice

Will Moss, Age 19

Will works as an Apprentice at the MirAmar salon in Cleveley’s. His real passion is for barbering and right after completing his Level 2 Hairdressing NVQ, he’s planning to add to his skills with a Level 2 Barbering qualification.

It won’t take long because much of what he needs to know, he’s studied on his hairdressing course already. In fact, he’s so enthusiastic about his vocation that the manager at MiraMar has given him his very own barber’s chair and work station and sent him on a short course to learn cut throat razoring! Will would definitely recommend an Apprenticeship to anyone wanting to learn a trade.

“The best thing about it,” he says, “is being trusted and encouraged and being given a chance to follow your ambitions.” And Will’s plans for the future? A business of his own. Not here in the UK though, but “somewhere hot… like Spain or Australia!”

Meet the Boss

Debbie Marr, Owner, Miramar

It was taking on an Apprentice that first convinced Debbie she had the skills and abilities to open and manage a salon of her own. Now, a year after opening MirAmar, she says;

“Working with Apprentices means I’m able to offer a 100% better service. It’s much more of a professional salon experience for my customers. They get looked after on arrival and I can give them my undivided attention knowing there’s always someone to answer the phone and book appointments.”

Having Apprentices has, she feels, taught her something as well;

“No matter how hard you try to keep abreast of the latest developments in hairdressing, after 26 years, it’s hard! Apprentices bring all the new techniques and practices they’ve learned in College into the salon so I’m always learning too.”

Another thing Debbie is grateful for in the Apprenticeship programme is the support she gets for the Apprenticeship Team at the College.

“Like most hairdressers, I’m the creative type. Things like employment law or health and safety don’t come naturally to me, so I’m always on the phone to the Team at the College. They offer a great service and it makes things a lot easier knowing I’m doing it by the book.”