A BRANTHAM-based beauty salon which opened its doors in a converted cow shed has been named as Employer of the Year at the UK’s leading beauty industry awards.

The Professional Beauty awards recognise salons who go above and beyond as a beauty business and make a significant difference to the industry.

The Employer of the Year category seeks to celebrate those beauty employers who lead industry best practice for their teams, in terms of training, morale and progression.

Eve Oxberry, editor of Professional Beauty magazine, commented: “Being crowned as a winner at the Professional Beauty Awards is an accolade to be incredibly proud of.

"The judging process is one the most rigorous in the industry, to ensure that every winner provides an outstanding customer experience.

"We are committed to raising standards within the beauty industry and would like to thank all of the winners for showcasing what excellence looks like.”

The award comes on the heels of a series of national beauty industry awards for The Pink Shed including salon of the year, best new business and client experience.

Salon owner Natalie Wood said: “We are proud to be a rural business and have invested to convert a farm building into a five-star salon experience.

"I know that the business is only as good as its employees, and more core focus has been on training and developing my team to be the best in the industry."

“This award, the fact that we are continuing to grow and have a consistently full client list is testament to my incredible team, and this award is for them.

"It has been an incredibly hard couple of years for the beauty industry and the people working in it, but we have come back better than ever and it’s wonderful to have national recognition of our success.

As well as investing in new treatment rooms and services, the Pink Shed has grown to employ fourteen therapists and now has its own training programme for new beauty therapists.