A HAMPSHIRE salon has reached finals of a national award.

Kate Preston Hair and Beauty is known as the go-to salon in Fareham and the hairdressing team have now got through to the finals of the ‘Best Salon Team’ category in the Most Wanted Awards.

The team of hairdressers have beat salons across the nation to secure a place at the final.

They are now only up against four salons based in Leicester, Manchester, Tunbridge Wells and Petersfield.

The winners will be announced on September 5.

Owner of the salon, Kate Preston, was also recently named stylist of the year in the English Hair and Beauty Awards 2016.

Kate said: “It was amazing to be named stylist of the year but what I have always really wanted is for the team to win an award.

“They always work together and I hope that this will make the younger stylists realise that their hard work is really worth it.”

If the salon is crowned a winner, they will be awarded with a trophy and coverage in Creative HEAD magazine.

Catherine Handcock, publisher of Creative HEAD magazine said: “Record entries to this year’s Most Wanted means these will be our most fiercely contested trophies ever.

“To have made the finals is an amazing achievement – something that marks you out as an exceptional talent.”

To get to the finals, Kate had to submit a portfolio that showcased the salon’s work over the past 10 years.

Kate said it was important that the portfolio was clear and enticing for the judges to read.

She said: “It showed off previous awards we had won, that we have had 16 trainees over the years and I also asked the team to write a testimonial (which I didn’t see before submitting the portfolio).

The award winning stylist said that she encourages the team to always work together.

She said: “A lot of other salons have individual stylists who work competitively but I like to encourage my team to work together and help each other. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, working together just helps to strengthen the whole team.

Working as a team is good for the clients too, it gives them the chance to get to know the whole team so if their favourite stylist is off then they are happy to have their hair cut by somebody else.”