CUTTING EDGE

All of the latest men’s hairdressing news to help you improve your grooming game

The winners of the first Modern Barber Awards were announced on Tuesday 8 December. The virtual awards ceremony, which was sponsored by Wahl, Takara Belmont and MVRCK by Mitch, was streamed on Modern Barber and HJ’s official Facebook pages.

The awards celebrated UK barbers who have gone above and beyond during this extremely challenging year.

The winner of the Best All Round Barber award was given to Natalie Cresswell of Cresswell Barber Co. She said: “I’d like to dedicate this award to my lovely diverse clients and my team who support me every day. I entered images that I’d taken of my clients on the streets of Southampton. I wanted to reflect our pride in our cultures and where we all come from. I believe the variation in hair types throughout my client base has helped me to hone my skills as an all-round barber.”

THE WINNERS ARE:

BEST APPRENTICE 
sponsored by Wahl:
Deone Luke of Nu:Era Barbershop

BEST SHOP INTERIOR 
sponsored by Takara Belmont:
Bonds Broadstone

BEST PHOTOGRAPHIC ENTRY:
Jim Shaw and Daisy Carter of TONI&GUY Billericay

BEST TEAM
sponsored by Wahl:
Bonds Broadstone

BEST EDUCATION 
sponsored by MVRCK by Mitch: 
Mitch Mike, Taylor Education

BEST CLIENT EXPERIENCE 
sponsored by Takara Belmont:
Substance Barbershop

BEST BUSINESS LEADER:
Joe Mills 

BEST ALL ROUND BARBER 
sponsored by MVRCK by Mitch: 
Natalie Cresswell of Cresswell Barber Co.

The Wahl British Barber and Wahl British Barbershop of the Year awards were announced on Thursday 26 November.

The Wahl British Barber of the Year 2020 crown was given to Amigos Barbers owner Kilian Maddison. The finalists included: Luka Chitty, Kyle Rowland, Dale Hince, Guray Kesman and Shaun Buckingham.

The finalists for the Wahl British Barbershop of the Year 2020 award included Ruffians, Avanzato Grooming Lounge, Biberian Gray, Cutters Yard and RW Wolf. The award was given to Andy’s Barbers, Bicester.

Under normal circumstances the competition would be held live at Salon International in October. However, under current restrictions the winners were announced live on Instagram.

Both Kilian and Andy joined Wahl’s global artistic director Simon Shaw to celebrate their victories.

The male grooming market is growing, according to new research by Product of the Year, the UK’s biggest survey of product innovation.

The survey, which was conducted online asked UK consumers which male grooming products they had bought in the past six months or would buy in the future.

Nearly a third (32%) of those surveyed said beard care products were part of their grooming routine. This suggests retailing professional beard care products, such as beard oils, shampoos and conditioners in your hair salon or barbershop, would be a lucrative extra revenue stream.

The survey also found over half of UK men (55%) have bought or would buy skincare products and over a fifth (13%) had bought or plan to buy male-specific make-up products.