Two hairdressers have teamed up to launch their own salon and training academy and which has been named specially to celebrate their friendship.
Heather Longland (34) and Jemma Furness (35) are to open the Amica Lounge in Sawtry on March 16.
Amica is Latin for ‘loved friend’ and celebrates their friendship which began a decade ago.
Heather and Jemma met in 2015 when they worked together in a salon Huntingdon and have worked together ever since and over that time say they have become very good friends, with Jemma godmother to Heather’s children
They said: “So when we were given an opportunity to set up our own salon together we felt it was a natural progression for us and are very excited to take this new venture on together.”
“We picked the name Amica Lounge for our salon and academy as Amica means ‘loved friend’.
Opening the salon at unit 12c on the Brookside Industrial Estate comes after months of hard work converting a former builders’ depot into a plush salon with dazzling walls, ceiling, fixtures and fittings.
Heather said: “When we took over the lease for the unit it had been used by a building company and was pretty much just a big open space.
"So we have prioritised building the hairdressing part first, including a kitchen and refurbishing the existing bathroom.
"We have made it feel more cozy with interior walls and ceilings.
“We still have a large part of the unit that we haven’t utilised yet so are now looking to build two beauty rooms.
She added: “My husband has been working very hard for us doing most of the work himself.
“So we’ll give him a few weeks off to have a little break before we get him working on the beauty rooms.”
Heather and Jemma said: “We really want our clients to feel relaxed and comfortable in our new modern salon.
"We want to give them the best possible service with little extras to make them feel special, but also keep our prices reasonable and affordable.
"We are both huge perfectionists with an eye for detail, so we will always spend the time to make sure we nail the end result.”
For the immediate future only Heather and Jemma will work in the salon.
But they say the goal is to take on staff and apprentices in the future.
The Amica Lounge training academy will run when the salon is closed.
They said: “We are keen to pass on our skills to the next generation of hairdressers and we have already had some of our own courses accredited in hair extensions and cutting hair.
"We are planning on expanding the courses we offer, starting with a bridal hair course as this is one of my passions.”
“We really want our own courses to be of the highest quality and ensure our learners really do feel confident putting their new skills into practice.
“We will be offering an online portal for our learners to be able to watch videos and recap information they have learnt, and we will also offer free shadow days to come and resit the course if they still don’t feel 100 percent confident in their new skills.
"We will be releasing our course dates very soon.”
9. Amica Lounge
Early stages in the creation of the Amica Lounge in Sawtry Photo: Amica Lounge