Fundraising in the community: supporting Chiltern Foodbank
“Over the years we’ve enjoyed helping a variety of local charity events, it’s good to support the community. With the recent lack of local occasions due to Covid we’ve taken the decision to get involved with fundraising for the Chiltern Food Bank, they do amazing work supplying food parcels to local people in crisis.
Our fundraising kicked off with a Charity Raffle as part of our salon 16 Year Anniversary celebrations in September, and we’ve had amazing support from our wonderful customers. There were three very special prizes for the lucky winners and we are delighted to have raised to date £462 for Chiltern Foodbank.
We will continue to support Chiltern Foodbank and look forward to announcing our next fundraising event soon.”
16 Years of Brendan O'Sullivan Hair and Beauty
On the 16th Anniversary of his salon, Brendan O’Sullivan shares his thoughts on Customer Relationships, Fashion and Education.
“We decided to recognise this particular business milestone as we’re so grateful for the amazing support our customers showed us through the recent lockdowns. The team and I think it’s a great time to celebrate and reward our loyal VIPs.
We really do consider ourselves lucky. When my partner Wendy and I decided Amersham was the best place to open our salon all those years ago we had no idea what a great decision it was. In fact, we loved Amersham so much we moved here! We are privileged to look after wonderful customers and although some travel nationally and internationally to us, most are from Amersham and the surrounding areas, we really do appreciate each client who supports our salon. Amersham is such a pretty town with a strong community and boasts many independent businesses. With great places to shop, fabulous cafes, restaurants, and bars (and of course our salon!) Amersham is a special place to spend time.
I think the main reason our business has thrived for 16 years is high standards. We don’t take anything for granted and look ahead to see how we can improve and always make our clients look and feel fantastic. When you’ve been in business a while it’s great to see customers grow with you, some we’ve seen off to university, helped with their interview image when they’ve applied for jobs, styled them into their career and it’s wonderful to help develop their look as we go along. Trends change, fashion changes and we change with our clients over the years.
We have a reputation for excellent customer service, it’s important to us. No matter how many times they’ve been to us, we look at clients like it’s the first time – their face shape, hair texture, give advice about what would suit them, how to manage their style and achieve the look at home.
In 16 years, we’ve seen many changes with hair trends, I love how fashion is cyclical but always with a new twist such as the current Seventies vibe. Of course, Mullets, Shags and Bangs have been seen before but each time around we bring them up to date with new translations and techniques. We work at Fashion Week in London, Paris, Milan, New York - we’re not just following trends but creating them, and we bring new trends back to the salon. Fashion will never stop evolving and our clients know we can deliver something bang on trend when they visit. Some people believe that you must travel into London to find a salon that understands fashion trends or great service and we want everyone to know we can deliver those things right here in Amersham.
I’ve really enjoyed seeing the return of some shorter, more creative haircuts and have to say one of my favourite hair colour trends has to be balayage; it’s such a great opportunity for stylists to get creative, visual, to paint the hair and work with toners to make hair look stunning. Creative colour is so popular with our customers right now.
Wendy and I have a background in education, for 15 years I was Head of Training for the largest hairdressing company in the world, so we know how important it is to keep providing the team with a fresh view, keep motivation and standards high. When you strive to be the best, training doesn’t ever stop - you continue to learn throughout your career. We also develop our team by encouraging them to enter competitions. Leanne (one of our Senior Stylists) has just reached the finals of the F.A.M.E Team for the Fellowship of British Hairdressing, we’re absolutely thrilled! The F.A.M.E Team (Fellowship Academy of Merit and Excellence) is an annual initiative created to nurture, encourage, and promote an elite group of young, up and coming creative hairdressers.
Over the years we’ve enjoyed helping a variety of local charity events, it’s good to support the community. With the recent lack of local occasions due to Covid we’ve taken the decision to get involved with fundraising for the Chiltern Food Bank, they do amazing work supplying food parcels to local people in crisis.
Business can be tough, particularly during recent times with the challenges we’ve all faced with the pandemic. But after many years in hairdressing, my partner Wendy and I still find the industry fascinating and are passionate about our customers and team and this will never change.
The team at Brendan O’Sullivan Hair and Beauty enjoyed our 16th celebrations throughout September and most importantly, we had the most amazing reactions from our customers who loved the Gift Vouchers we shared and indulged in celebratory prosecco and cupcakes. There was an extra special buzz in the salon. Although business will always have its ups and downs we’re proud of our accomplishments over the last 16 years and super excited about the future.”
Brendan O’Sullivan Hair and Beauty celebrated its 16th anniversary throughout the month of September 2021. Anniversary activities included a Birthday Card with Gift Voucher to all customers visiting in September, 16-day luxury giveaway on Instagram, special anniversary salon refreshments menu and celebratory cupcakes, sharing a curated playlist of foot-tapping tunes, and a prize draw for local charity Chiltern Food Bank raising £460.