A hair dressing team which specialises in extensions continues to grow after adding a new member to its team.
Globetrotting Chloe Ladbury has joined Lox of Love on Aycliffe Business Park after a 10-month tour around the world.
The 25-year-old – pictured above (centre) with the firm’s managing director Victoria Cartwright and stylist Emma Stevens (left) – had spent 10 months working as a stylist on a cruise ship after leaving her role with The Works at Cobblers Hall in Newton Aycliffe.
It boosts Lox of Love’s team to five as the firm continues to enjoy year-on-year growth.
“I’m really excited to be back home and enjoying a new challenge,” said former Woodham Academy student Chloe, who lives in the town.
“It’s always been a huge passion of mine. I started training to be a hair dresser when I was 15 and after working on the town for a few years I wanted to get some different experience under my belt.
“The opportunity came up to join a cruise, and during 10 months we went all over the world and visited some wonderful places including Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean and Alaska.
“It was a fantastic experience but I was ready to come home and take up a new challenge, so I was delighted when Victoria at Lox of Love offered me this new role.”
Managing director Victoria says her firm has gone from strength-to-strength, despite being hit by a personal tragedy in 2016.
In September last year, Victoria’s sister Anna Swabey lost her 20-month battle with a brain tumour – since passing, Anna’s fundraising efforts have smashed the £100,000 barrier.
“It was a very difficult time,” says Victoria, who runs Lox of Love with her mum and business partner Linda. “But luckily our staff and clients were extremely supportive and understanding.
“We got through it as a family and now the business continues to do well. Our turnover has increased and we’ve seen significant increases year-on-year.”
Victoria now hopes to grow her team at Lox of Love’s premises at Unit 6 within Evans Business Centre on Durham Way South.
Chloe joined the team as part-time Saturday assistant Amber Peake also made her role full-time at the family firm.
“We’re delighted with the addition of both Chloe and Amber,” adds Victoria.
“The hair dressing and hair extensions side of the business has just expanded so much, and we were struggling to cope with demand at one point.
“Chloe was already trained in extensions and I knew how good she was from when she was previously employed in Aycliffe.
“Amber used to be our Saturday girl while at school but has become very popular with our clients and is coming on in leaps and bounds. She continues to offer a hair and make-up service while continuing her hair dressing training, and she will eventually become fully-trained in hair extensions.
“We’ve had to expand the salon due to demand so we can increase our capacity so we now have a new spill-out room to ease the burden during our peak times, so it’s all going very well.”
Lox of Love, which is official stockists of Beauty Works extensions, will soon be offering a new wig-fitting service for clients with medical conditions.
Victoria added: “From my own experience when Anna lost her hair through radiotherapy, she was trying to find somewhere and they’re few and far between, and ended up finding a place in Hertfordshire
“So I feel like the support in this region is lacking a little bit, so within the next month we’ll be offering a full wig-fitting service, not just to chemotherapy patients, but other people with medical hair loss.
“And towards the end of the year we’re also planning to offer a hair recovery programme. It’s something I’m passionate about, and it’s something I understand.”
Mum-of-three Victoria, a fully-qualified hair dresser, launched Lox of Love in December 2012, originally as a mobile service which eventually amassed around 500 clients, before opening her own premises on Aycliffe Business Park in May 2014.
• To book or make an enquiry with Lox of Love, call them on 01325 327362, or for more details go to www.loxoflove.co.uk
