Glamorous Jacqui is a cut above!
AN ALNESS salon owner has been named Highland's top entrepreneur at an award's ceremony.
Salon owner Jacqui Douglas was named winner of the regional finals of the 2011 Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
The 22-year-old founder of Glamorous hairdressing salon in Alness was announced as regional winner at a ceremony in Inverness.
She was presented with a £1,000 cash prize by Freda Newton of Jacobite Cruises Ltd, sponsors of the winner’s award. Jacqui will now be considered by the judging panel to be entered into the national final taking place at Glasgow’s City Chambers in November.
It was always her ambition to have her own salon and after only a few weeks working in Alness, the young entrepreneur heard about a new shop unit which was nearing completion and was up for lease.She contacted the builder and came to an agreement to lease the property once it was completed. During the months that followed she used the money she was earning to buy equipment for the shop and as the completion date on the shop grew nearer, her parents offered her financial support to purchase the fixtures and fittings.To enable her to purchase the stock required she approached PSYBT and was awarded the funding in August 2009.Glamorous hairdressing salon opened for business in August 2009 and is performing well with clients from all over the Highlands. Jacqui now employs six staff, two of whom are trainees, and she also offers work experience to children from local schools.Jacqui received funding, advice and support from PSYBT, which during the last twenty two years, has supported over 12,000 young people to start over 10,000 businesses, providing £36.4million in funding and additional assistance.
See more on this story in next week's Ross-shire Journal.