Room 97 Creative has been shortlisted for a national business award, placing them amongst some of the best in the hairdressing industry.

The Leeds and Wakefield salon group is a finalist for Education Salon of the Year, recognised for the work they do with young people in the Yorkshire area. The results will be announced at a live event in London later in the summer.

Owner Marcello Moccia set up the Room 97 Academy seven years ago, and now works with Barnsley college and salons across the borough, training young people in the skills to be work-ready and qualified hairstylists. “We set up the Academy to help the young people of Yorkshire compete with the best in the industry. When they come to us they gain invaluable experience of working with a team in a live environment. We work with students from Barnsley college and apprentices from our partner salons across Yorkshire.

“Training the future is a big responsibility and we’re delighted we’ve been recognised as one of the best educational salons in the UK.”

Manager of the Academy, Nicola Page, adds: “Throughout the pandemic we continued educating our students digitally, making sure they had computers and mannequin heads to work on throughout lockdown. Hairdressing is a highly-skilled career with vast opportunities and I think the pandemic has shown people how valuable we are for their own mental health and wellbeing. A good cut and colour can really make a difference to how you feel and our students are all trained to the highly standards to take back to their salons.”

Image: academy training room