CASE STUDY CASE STUDY STEVE ROWBOTTOM

“The Westrow Academy is a busy place right now, with up to 240 full-time students at any one time. In 2023 we’ve had tremendous growth and exceeded the capacity of our 5,000 sq ft building; so we’ve open satellite studios in Harrogate and Sheffield.

“A success story was lobbying to win a government contract for adult education as we came out of lockdown. We now have the facility to deliver hairdressing skills to people in all industries, of all genres, and all ages, who could only have dreamt of becoming a hairdresser pre-pandemic.

“Most recently, while delivering a business seminar, I spoke to a salon owner who had a particular grudge with apprenticeships. He said that as he has to take time out of his week to deliver education, he should be the one receiving the new funding increase.

“When you take on an apprentice, you have a duty of care to deliver 20 per cent of their working hours back to education, otherwise you are not in a position to employ them. That’s one day a week where the salon owners have to either deliver the education themselves or employ someone to do so, which is a huge commitment.

“Westrow has launched an initiative where we charge £25 a day for the apprentice to come to us and be taught by our team. We have delivered about 187 EPAs, at a 100 per cent success rate with more than 60 per cent gaining outstanding results. This is due to the fact that our class sizes are between eight and 10, where most colleges have classes between 30 and 35. It’s a different model, and a huge team effort.”