News / hair salons
Expansion plans for harbourside hair salon
When Gina Tigwell was working for a charity that looks after high-risk offenders on their release from prison, her walk home took her by the Harbour Inlet.
It was here that the former police officer decided to have a complete change of career, retrain as a stylist and open her own salon in a unit for sale that she used to pass every day.
Kings & Queens now employs eight members of staff, cuts both women’s and men’s hair, and has recently branched out into offering treatments such as facials, gel nails and HD eyebrows.
The salon was also asked to style hair for the models at Gok Wan’s recent Bristol show, and has cut and styled hair at Harvey Nichols promotional events.
A busy day at Kings & Queens
Gina, 37, whose family are from Libya, worked up to 120 hours a week in the salon when it first opened.
“I’m now able to enjoy it,” she told Bristol24/7 on a recent morning before the first customer walked through the doors on another busy day.
“I enjoy people coming in again and again and again, and I’m really lucky with the team here. It’s not mine; I’m part of a team. And when people come in, they get that.”
The new treatments alongside the haircuts have come out of Gina’s ambition to move her business with the times.
“People want more and more,” she said. “We need to keep on our toes because people can get bored. We need to keep things different.”
Read more: Breathing new life into the Harbour Inlet
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