MIDDLEWICH businesses were guaranteed a hair-raising experience when celebrity hairdresser Andrew Collinge visited the town on Monday.

He visited the town on a whistle-stop tour to promote the way in which hairdressing and beauty salon owners in Cheshire can improve their business and management skills.

The seminar was arranged jointly by event hosts Total People Ltd, in King Street, with Business Link Cheshire and Warrington and the Hairdressing and Beauty Industry Authority.

It showed company owners how to attract clients, increase sales and get more from their businesses.

Alan Goldsbro, chief executive of HABIA, said: "Hairdressing and beauty therapy have come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, thanks to world class training and education.

"However that is no reason to be complacent, salon owners need to constantly update their business and management skills in order to ensure that customers are satisfied, staff are happy and that the salon is achieving its full potential."

The hairdressing and beauty industry has been one of the most successful industries in the country in recent years growing by over 300 per cent between 1992 and 1999, now employing over 200,000 people in over 40,000 outlets with an annual turnover of just under £3.4 billion.