Grangemouth hairdresser named the best in Scotland

Salon Indigo in Grangemouth took the Best Hairdresser in Falkirk and Stirling area in the Scotland’s business awards at the end of last year.

Then last month at the grand final in Glasgow she was stunned when it was named the overall Scottish winner.

A delighted Leah McAvoy had worked in the York Lane business for 18 years. When her boss decided to retire in November 2019 she had the opportunity to take it over.

Leah, 35, said: “I was just learning how to run a business when lockdown happened which was a bit of a shock.

"Although I had worked there for so long, I was only part-time and knew nothing about running a business.

"But we managed and we are still here with lots of great customers.”

Now she says that the award is the icing on the cake after a very difficult two years.

However, she admits that she almost didn’t go to the awards ceremony.

She added: “I wasn’t going to go then a few days before I said to the girls that we were going as it would be a much-needed night out.

"Now I’m delighted that we went. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.”

Leah works with stylist Marianne Champniss and junior stylist Emma Robertson, who attended the awards with her.

As well as being a business owner, Leah, who lives in Bo’ness, is married to Andrew and mum to Reese, 15 and Becca, 12.

She said: “I've got to thank Andrew for all his work – he gutted the salon for me and did all the work to get it ready to open.”

Leah also thanked all those who had supported her, saying: “We would just like to say a big thank you to all our clients, family and friends for making this award happen.

“We are absolutely over the moon and can’t put into words how much this actually means to us and its all down to the continuous support from you all. Thank you again, this truly is an achievement we will never forget.”

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FKH/V