Alan Stewart
Alan Stewart is a Director of Rainbow Room International - a company with ten hair salons and two beauty and spa salons across West and Central Scotland. He became involved in Skills Challenge Competitions in 2006 when his new purpose built academy in Glasgow hosted a Regional Hairdressing Competition.
Alan, who hadn't been previously aware of Skills Challenge Competitions, was pleasantly surprised by the quality of work produced by the competitors. He was on hand to congratulate the participants and to award prizes to the competition winners.
How do you think skills competitions are beneficial to students and apprentices?
"Skills competitions are beneficial as they allow students and apprentices to benchmark themselves against their peers. Competitions are a healthy way of developing and improving levels of skills and abilities. Skills competitions also raise the profile of skills in the UK, which is important."
How do skills competitions benefit employers?
"Skills competitions are useful to employers. They are a way of motivating their trainees by allowing them to prepare for, and be involved in, an environment where they have to deal with time constraints and pressure and this mirrors the environment in the workplace."
How valuable do you think training and development opportunities are for your staff?
"Each business has its own systems and culture and it takes time to integrate students into this new environment. An initial training period is key to ensure that new members of staff understand new systems and procedures and that they can adapt to a new business culture.
In a wider sense, training and development is vitally important. Hairdressing is at the forefront of the fashion industry and is in a constant state of change - what is in fashion today is old fashioned tomorrow. In order to stay at the cutting edge of the industry, skills need to be continually honed and updated. Skills competitions ensure that you keep your skills up-to-date. I would definitely be interested in being involved in Skills Challenge Competitions in 2007."