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Belfast Met student wins top accolade at UK Student barber awards
A Belfast Met student has trimmed and tapered his way to success at the prestigious British Barbers’ Association National Student Barber of the Year Awards.
Caolan Carson from Glengormley fought off stiff competition from students across the UK to win the Basic Facial Hair Design Award.
The Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Barbering student, currently serving his Apprenticeship with Gavin James – The Gentlemen’s Barber in North Belfast, was presented with his Award in front of leading industry names at BarberUK 2017 in the NEC Birmingham.
The National Student Barber of the Year Awards aim to give students the chance to develop their skills in using basic techniques to cut men’s hair and facial hair, as well as providing them with a platform to develop their career in the barbering industry.
Speaking about Caolan’s award, Elaine Morrison, Course Tutor at Belfast Met said: “Caolan has worked extremely hard since joining the course and has proven to be a very talented trainee barber. His work is consistently of a very high standard and he has demonstrated a passion to learn the basics of cutting men’s hair and facial hair.
“Belfast Met strives to give its students the very best training to enable them to develop the skills to develop a successful career, so it’s an amazing achievement to see Caolan compete and win against the top barbering students from across the UK. Hopefully this award will give him the confidence to succeed and forge a career in the barbering industry.
For winning the award, Caolan collected a trophy, £500 prize money, certificate of merit and a British Barbers’ Association goodie bag full of equipment, including professional hair clippers and foil razors, as well as men's hair styling and beard grooming products.
Caolan Carson said: “I genuinely didn’t think I stood a chance of winning such a prestigious UK wide award. I would like to thank my course tutors at Belfast Met and my mentors at Gavin James – The Gentlemen’s Barber for all their help and encouragement.
“My first year of study at the College has been brilliant and this Award has made me even more determined to develop the necessary skills and qualifications required to be the best barber possible and hopefully one day have my own barber shop.”
The Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Barbering is a one-year course suitable for students with an interest in barbering as a career. Students are trained in the College’s state-of-the-art fully equipped commercial hair salons where they learn basic barbering skills.