Our salon was the first in Britain to be run on renewable energy
LEARNING a skill or trade, training on the job and working your way up from the bottom can be an excellent way into employment.
Francesca Cragg, 25, from Horwich, Lancashire, always knew she wanted to be a hairdresser and so strong was her ambition that at 13 she dragged her mother along to a branch of hairdressing chain Toni & Guy in central Manchester and asked for a Saturday job.
‘I’ve been working ever since,’ says Francesca, who was fully qualified with a National Vocational Qualification (level three) in hairdressing by 17.
Francesca admits she did not enjoy school and could not wait to leave. But her lack of formal qualifications has not held her back. Having the drive for her chosen profession meant she was working as a senior stylist in Toni & Guy at 17.
By age 20, she had set up her own hair and beauty salon with her sister, Stephanie Carter, 28.
‘My grandmother left some money to us in her will,’ says Francesca, who is married to Michael Stokes, a 33-year-old optician. ‘We found premises for the salon and with the help of our dad we did a renovation.
‘We were keen the salon used renewable energy so we fitted solar panels. We were the first salon in Britain to be run on renewable energy and it keeps costs down.’
The salon – Revitalize Hair and Beauty Spa – in Horwich, now employs 12 and Francesca is looking to expand, possibly through franchising. She also has plans to open a training academy for budding hairdressers and recently got accreditation from a Government-approved vocational qualification awards body.
‘It is important I pass on my skills and help others who might want to train in hairdressing,’ says Francesca.
‘We will be a private academy – we have no Government funding – so I’ll be looking to take in anyone from the local area with a passion for this profession. That might include people who have been made redundant or are looking for a new career path.’
Katerina Rudiger, skills policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says starting work at the bottom pays off.
‘Work experience plays a critical role in building young people’s employability skills and job prospects,’ she says.
‘It can help break the vicious circle of “no experience, no job” by helping young people to learn how to present and conduct themselves in an interview and in the workplace and allow them to demonstrate their worth.
‘Getting the first step on to the employment ladder is crucial because once you have a job most employers will be looking for opportunities to train and develop their staff and help people develop their careers and reach their potential,’ she says.