TWO Worcestershire hair salons have reached the final stages of the 2012 British Hairdressing Business Awards. Wicked Hair, from Worcester, has been nominated in the retail salon of the year category.

While Bewdley-based Abacus has reached the final six in the customer care class.

One of Worcester’s longest- established ladies hairdressers, Wicked Hair, which was formally Jon Quality Hair, has been in the same salon in the city’s High Street for 54 years.

“We decided that after that period of time we needed to re-invent ourselves,” said owner Hans Peter Wurmli. “So about four years ago we remodelled our salon with a retro feel to it and included some quirky details like a mouse head, which isn’t real, cinema seats and a 1970s one-arm bandit which we use for promotions. We have a great, very talented team that are a lot of fun to work with. “We take training very seriously, have training within the salon for seasonal changes and we send colleagues on courses all over the country. “Because we do things a little differently, we decided to enter the British Hairdressing Awards and were overwhelmed when we were short-listed for the final.

“It would mean a lot to all of us to win as it’s a bit of a pinnacle. Although just being nominated is a great achievement,” he said, Presented by Hair-dressers Journal Interna-tional, the BHBA are now in their 14th year and are designed to reward excellence and exceptional business practice. The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony which will be held at the Lancaster, London, on Monday, September 17.