Awards Celebrate the Future of Hair
New Zealand’s up and coming hairdressing talent will be on display at the Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation
(HITO) Annual Awards, being held 31 October in Wellington.
HITO CEO Erica Cumming says that Awards are a great opportunity to see what the future of the hair and beauty industry
will look like.
Seven regional winners from across New Zealand will find out on the night whether they’ve done enough to take away with
the prestigious HITO Apprentice of the Year Award. Last year’s winner was Albanian-born Ardita Rakovica from Bettjemans
salon in Auckland.
A major highlight of this year’s Awards will be the inaugural presentation of the HITO Training Salon of the Year Award.
This Award has been created to recognise salons with an exceptional commitment to apprenticeship training and workforce
development.
“Salons that embrace training by taking on apprentices and supporting them to become the stylists of the future are key
to successful training and the development of a professional industry. It’s exciting that this year, for the first time,
the efforts of these champion salons are being celebrated,” says Erica Cumming.
The five finalists for the HITO Training Salon of the Year Award are:
• Headquarters Hair by Design (New Plymouth)
• Reds Hairdressing (Pukerua Bay)
• Rodney Wayne Hairdressing (Chartwell, Hamilton)
• Spectra (Palmerston North)
• Ursula Harris Hair Design (Nelson)
The Jasmine McBeth Memorial Scholarship will be presented at the Awards to an apprentice whose commitment and passion
has allowed them to overcome the odds and achieve their goals. Last year’s winner, Joel Hornell from Rodney Wayne
Bayfair in Tauranga, literally flipped burgers at night so he could support his family and follow his dream to become a
hairdresser.
“Last year’s Awards propelled two outstanding young apprentices into the hairdressing limelight, Ardita Rakovica and
Joel Hornell. This year’s Awards will bring to the fore more future stars of our industry, and for the first time,
recognise the employers who are leading the way when it comes to developing future talent,” says Cumming.
Both Ardita and Joel will be at this year’s Awards evening, and will be speaking on their successes at a workshop on
Sunday 1 November.
Other awards to be presented at the Awards Evening are the HITO Tutor of the Year and the Hairdresser in Training
Photographic Competition.
ENDS