‘The Prince’s Trust understands that people like me need support to level up’
Victoria Lynch, 45,
set up Additional Lengths with help from The Prince’s Trust in 2003. She lives in Stockton-on-tees with her partner Shaun and their children Presley, 18, and Josie, 13.
“Twenty years ago, when I first tried to get my hair extensions business going, I asked the bank for a start-up loan. I went to the appointment smartly dressed and armed with a business plan I’d put together. But I was laughed out of the door.
At that time there weren’t many women in business and hair extensions were a new beauty innovation. The male banker certainly hadn’t heard of them and he looked at me as if I was crackers. He just didn’t believe my idea could succeed.
Luckily, The Prince’s Trust did believe in me and thanks to the initial support, my business, Additional Lengths, has grown over the years and is now worth millions.
I first became interested in hair extensions in my early teens. I braided the hair of a family friend into neat cornrows and learnt to use hair extensions.
I was born in one of the most deprived areas in the UK and grew up on a council estate. There was drug use and riots. I was more practical than academic and left school at 16 with a C as my highest GCSE grade.
Taken seriously
The bank rejection in 2003 was deflating but it didn’t put me off. I felt sure hair extensions were going to be big. There was a branch of The Prince’s Trust in Middlesbrough and I’d heard they helped businesses, so I applied to their Enterprise scheme.
I think they could see how passionate I was and it was great to be taken seriously. I was thrilled when I was awarded a £500 grant plus a £1,500 interestfree loan. I used the money for essentials such as setting up a phone line, website and card payment machine. And I spent a few thousand pounds
I had in compensation following a car accident on stock.
I sent flyers about my hair extension products to local hair salons and sat in the little spare room at my parents’ house, praying for the phone to ring. At the very end of the first week, my first order came in. It was only worth £15.50 but I was over the moon.
There was so much to learn about running a business and I feared it would go under when only my second shipment of hair extensions turned out to be yak hair rather than human. But I made it work by incorporating those into the training programmes I was running.
I now employ 27 staff from the local area and the business is continuing to expand in the US and Europe.
Contacting The Prince’s Trust was the best decision I ever made. The charity really understands communities, that people like me need support to level up. I’m proof that you don’t have to have qualifications or come from a highflying family to succeed. As long as you’re prepared to work hard, you can realise your dreams.”
If you know a young person who needs support, or if you would like to donate to The Prince’s Trust, visit princes-trust.org.uk