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Anthony Chen has the cutting edge

Sudbury based barber wins Barber University Challenge at City Hall

On Sunday 21st January, Salon Strategies invited over 300 of the UK’s top ethnic hair salon owners and stylists to London’s City Hall for Strictly Business! 2007. Delegates flocked to business seminars for advice from leading experts and visited displays by top hair and cosmetics brands for the latest professional products.

The grand finale

But, for many, the most exciting part of the day was the live finale, featuring the Barber Challenge and two fashion shows.  ‘Cutting It’, the Barber University Challenge sponsored by Pro-Line Barber Select and Brent Business Ventures, was the first competition of its kind for barbers. Unlike many popular contests in the past, Cutting It aimed to test for business, technical and customer service knowledge, rather than the hair cutting skills.

As organiser Anne Long-Murray stressed, “We chose barbers who are already at the top of their game, skills-wise, but it is important to emphasise that an accomplished barber should also be able to run a profitable business based on offering clients a professional service. Our four competitors and quiz master are great ambassadors for their trade.”

There were many tense moments, as well as a few hilarious ones, as quiz master Chris ‘Foss’ Foster fired tough questions at celebrity stylist Five, Mucktaru Kargbo of MK Hair Studio and Academy, Anthony Chen of Barber-Ism and Faisal Abdullah-Faisal. As images of celebrity haircuts filled the plasma screens, several members of the audience found it difficult to refrain from shouting answers to contestants before they had a chance to answer.

Anthony Chen of Barber-Ism emerged as the winner in a closely fought contest, pulling away from the others in the final buzzer section. He was particularly strong in the technical and customer service areas, showing the value of the training offered by co-sponsors Brent Business Ventures which he has participated in. Anthony won a year’s supply of Pro-Line Barber Select, while Five, Mucktaru and Faisal each received the full range of products.

Kikora Mocka-Celestine of Pro-Line felt proud to sponsor the Barber Challenge: “It was great to be involved with something new and innovative that stressed knowledge instead of just cutting and shaving. We feel that education is important for barbers to advance in their profession and for proper use of the Barber Select range.”