Celebrity stylist Lisa Shepherd shuts two Midland hair salons
Celebrity hair stylist Lisa Shepherd has closed her two upmarket salons in Wombourne and Birmingham with the loss of nine jobs.
Only her original salon in Kidderminster remains open, with the other branches in Temple Row, Birmingham, and High Street, Wombourne, shutting their doors this week.
Nine of the 28 staff across all three sites have been made redundant.
One stylist, who did not wish to be named, said it had come as a terrible shock to both staff and customers.
They said they were called in on Monday morning for what they thought was a training day but were told the salons were closing and jobs cut.
"I was shocked as there were a lot of staff at risk," they added. "We believed we were going in for a staff training day when instead our jobs were lost and we had to leave straight away.
"It is awful right before Christmas too."
Ms Shepherd is a celebrity stylist and was resident hair-colour expert on Channel 4's 10 Years Younger programme.
Her spokeswoman Laura Glazebrook said: "Lisa Shepherd has taken the decision to restructure her hairdressing businesses which spanned Birmingham, Wombourne and Kidderminster.
"On December 3, her solo, and original, salon Lisa Shepherd Kidderminster opens but both the Birmingham and Wombourne salons closed their doors after many happy years of trading in these amazing locations.
"Lisa has retained many of her team from across the three salon group but sadly there have been some unavoidable redundancies which Lisa regrets enormously."
The stylist herself added: "Keeping my original salon in Kidderminster means that I can put all my energy, time and resources into this one super salon that will continue to give the beautiful Lisa Shepherd brand of colour, style and care that has become synonymous with the name."
Ms Shepherd started out 24 years ago as a trainee hairdresser at the Brindleyplace salon of the legendary Umberto Giannini.
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She has since won British Colourist of the Year three times and, in 2005, bagged the most prestigious title – British Hairdresser of the Year.
She has coloured the hair of pop singer Rachel Stevens, actress Claire Sweeney and members of the pop group The Sugababes.
