WHEN Gemma Newcombe was named as the Young Business Person of the Year, the only person who wasn’t surprised was her boss.

“I knew she was going to win,” said Esther Smith, manager of Saks Hair and Beauty in The Howard Centre, WGC. “How could she not?”

It was Esther who entered colour technician Gemma for the award. “I wanted her to be recognised outside of the industry for what she’s achieved,” she said. “Especially considering she’s so young.”

Gemma, 21, has been working at Saks WGC since 2004, and in that time has completed a number of hairdressing qualifications, and is about to complete a prestigious L’Oreal Colour Specialist degree.

“She’s always really focused on her career, right from when she was a Saturday girl,” said Esther.

“She’s achieved so much; she has quite a lot of qualifications. She’s now doing a colour degree which is the highest award available. She’s quite an inspiration in her field.”

Gemma, from Knightsfield, WGC, was surprised about her win.

“Everyone was getting excited, but I just kept telling people not to, because they were going to be disappointed,” she said.

“I didn’t expect to win. I don’t really think of myself as a “business person”, but obviously I am!”

She added: “I think it’s a really big achievement. I feel like I’ve worked really hard this year and it’s really nice to have this recognition.”

For the time being, Gemma said she was happy working at Saks, which was also nominated in the Training and Development category at the awards.

“I just want to finish my course and then implement that in the salon,” she said.

“And then I want to go on and teach young hairdressers, and become the top colourist in WGC!”

Saks WGC is located on the second floor of The Howard Centre. Call 01707 377 252 for more information.