January 01, 1970

An Interview With The Fellowship for British Hairdressing

Since being named President of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, Ken has been even more in demand than ever! Here, we share an interview with him from the most recent issue of the Fellowship’s magazine…

How does it feel to be President?
It’s a huge honour. I’ve been involved in the Fellowship for a long time, and over the years some incredible people have been the figurehead. To be amongst them is incredibly exciting and very humbling.

When did you first get involved in the Fellowship?
I joined 25 years ago and have been a proud member ever since. For the first 20 years, I was very much on the creative side getting involved in shows and events, but over the last few years I have got more involved in the council. Getting really stuck in on that side of things inspired me to keep progressing and get more involved.

What have been some of your highlights as a member of the Fellowship?
When I first joined, it was a huge honour to be asked to get involved in shows. Knowing that I was representing the organisation at industry events was a big deal, and remains a privilege to this day. I’ve also won the Fellowship’s Image of the Year a few times and Salon of the Year twice. It’s an honour  to be recognised by my industry peers. More recently, I have been involved in the organisation of the Awards and Luncheon, and the great feedback on that has been rewarding.

What are you hoping to achieve in your time as President?
I want to make the Fellowship more diverse and inclusive, so it encapsulates everything that’s great about hairdressing. We need to stay current and relevant, but also creative as that’s the heart of our industry. I’m passionate about staying true to our ethic of education, and want to continue to develop our projects until they’re the ultimate opportunities in hairdressing. That’s important to me because they’re a driving face for getting young people into, and engaged in, our industry. I also want to make our calendar the go-to events in the whole industry, drawing the best names and delivering the best education and creative work.

What has been the highlight of your career?
There have been so many, but being named as President and having that chain put around my neck was something I have worked towards for a long time – and at the grand old age of 50, I think I’m now in a great place to do it! I’ve always believed in giving back to the industry and the Fellowship is the perfect platform to do that. There are other moments that stand out – presenting in China to an audience of 3,000 and winning Wales and South West Hairdresser of the Year, Most Wanted Businessman of the Year and Salon Team of the Year in one year was also pretty incredible.

What’s one thing people don’t know about you?
I’m not really Welsh. Just kidding! I have five kids and I coach football in my spare time – which there isn’t much of when you run a salon, have five kids and are President of the Fellowship – but which is very important for me.