Owner of Wishaw home beauty business launched after job loss nails it with industry award
The hard work of a Wishaw beauty business owner has paid off after she was recognised with an industry award just a couple of years after she was made redundant.
Amy Louise Hill runs ALH Beauty from her home in North Dryburgh Road, Coltness, which specialises in nail, brows and lash treatments.
Amy decided to launch her own full-time business in January 2023 after losing her job at Ascensos in Motherwell.
The 26-year-old was delighted when she was recently named Nail Salon Technician of the Year title at The Scottish Salon Awards 2025.
She said: 'I was made redundant from my last job, which was totally different, and had already completed and HND in Beauty Therapy, the redundancy just pushed me to go and do what I really wanted to do.
'I just decided to set up a home studio. It was terrifying at first, I went with no back-up option as I didn't have another job and went straight into it full time. Luckily by that summer I had almost a full client base and now I'm fully booked, completely.
"I'd encourage people thinking about their own business to go in head first, what is the worst that can happen! You'll never know if you don't try."
Amy sets aside Monday to complete admin work and ordering and admits she does now work more hours than she did with an employer, but the plus-side is that she now reaps the financial benefits of that herself.
She added: 'I do two late nights and work longer days, and it is full time as there's people phoning and texting and you're always having to deal with somebody – even when I'm off and say I'm not going to.'
The inaugural Scottish Salon Awards ceremony event was held by Oceanic Awards at the Doubletree by Hilton in Glasgow on June 29.
It follows the success of other hair and beauty awards that the organisation has delivered across the UK & Ireland.
The awards acknowledge the hard work, dedication, creativity and customer service of the talented individuals and businesses that operate in the industry. They honour the salons that through their consistently exceptional work have inspired loyalty from their customers.
'It's a recognition that means so much to me and reflects the hard work I've poured into building my business from the ground up,' said Amy.
'I've been committed to offering high quality, personalised services to my clients right here in the community. Starting and growing a salon from home hasn't always been easy, but this award feels like a major milestone.'
Irfan Younis, spokesperson for the Scottish Salon Awards, said: 'We want to congratulate all of our winners on their incredible accomplishment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Express
3 days ago
- Auto Express
It's incredible that no EV has got the full Electric Car Grant amount
As more cars become eligible for the Government's electric car grant, it's interesting that none of them yet qualifies for the higher £3,750 amount, with the total now sitting at 24 vehicles to choose from with a £1,500 contribution. With the latest batch of five including the likes of the Cupra Born, Volkswagen ID.3 and Peugeot 2008, there's now a decent array of cars included in the scheme, from the chic Renault 4 and 5 through to the practical, family-friendly Nissan Ariya – a former Auto Express Car of the Year! – the Vauxhall Frontera and the Renault Scenic. But it is interesting that nothing has yet achieved the full grant, especially as it's not clear from the outside how the calculations are being worked out. Advertisement - Article continues below Many industry commentators predicted the Renault 4 and 5 should be in pole position for the higher amount, but that didn't happen. That may have revealed something about where the batteries are coming from, and not all are yet being produced at the shiny new plant in northern France. When that facility is up to speed, there's a chance the Renault cars eligible for the grant – the 4, 5, Megane and Scenic are the ones that currently get £1,500 – could be moved to the higher level. But that's far from clear, due to the way the system has been set up. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below Want to make the switch to an electric car? Our fantastic Buy a Car service has loads of great value new and used electric cars available right now. I've heard some cynical types suggest glibly that the bar for eligibility for the full £3,750 has deliberately been set unachievably high, so the headlines featured a nice big number, but behind the scenes the Government knew full well that few cars, if any, were going to achieve it. I'm sure that wasn't the case, but the lack of clarity isn't helpful. From what I hear, even manufacturers don't know how close they have come to achieving the higher grant level – they can reapply if anything changes, such as battery supply coming from a different country. However, it sounds like there's little transparency as to why a car is only eligible at the lower level, and if it's down to the environmental credentials of where the batteries are built – coal reliance versus nuclear, for example. The big one will be when the UK-built Nissan Leaf goes on sale in the coming weeks; if that car isn't eligible, then I'm guessing nothing will be. At least the grant scheme will last longer if it's ebbing away at £1,500 a car, rather than nearly £4,000. Pessimistic early projections had it running out as soon as next spring if too many cars were eligible for the higher level. It's obvious that won't be happening now! Did you know you can sell your car with Auto Express? Get the highest bid from our network of over 5,500 dealers and we'll do the rest. Click here to try Auto Express Sell My Car now ... Find a car with the experts Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription Owners can now subscribe to boost the power of their car… for a fee Shock new mid-size Range Rover to get EV power and stunning design Shock new mid-size Range Rover to get EV power and stunning design Mid-size SUV will end the four-year wait for a new JLR model and our exclusive images preview how it could look New Jaecoo E5 is a Range Rover lookalike with a very attractive price New Jaecoo E5 is a Range Rover lookalike with a very attractive price Chinese newcomer's first electric SUV is also a rival to the award-winning Kia EV3 and Hyundai Kona Electric
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Telegraph
Scots receive a record £2,669 more public spending each than UK average
Scots receive nearly £2,700 more public spending each than the UK average, according to official figures revealing that the gap has widened to record levels. A major report, published by SNP ministers, showed total spending by the UK and Scottish Governments equated to £21,192 per person in Scotland in the 2024/25 financial year. This compared with an average £18,523 of public spending per person across the UK as a whole – £2,669 lower than the figure for Scotland. The cross-border spending gap was by far the largest on record, £2,311 up on the previous year and having nearly doubled over the previous decade. The Scottish Government's annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report also found public spending accounted for a record 52 per cent of the country's GDP, compared with 44.4 per cent of the UK as a whole. This was more than five points higher than before the pandemic. And Scotland's deficit – the difference between total revenue and expenditure – has surged to 11.7 per cent of GDP. This was more than double the UK figure of 5.1 per cent and higher than anywhere else in Europe. The report was published after SNP ministers recently confirmed they backed full fiscal autonomy, with Scotland getting control over all taxes and the abolition of the Barnett formula that provides the higher spending from Westminster. But Ian Murray, the UK Government's Scottish Secretary, said that would mean a funding gap of more than £14bn, resulting in 'turbo-charged austerity and economic chaos for Scotland'. He said: 'These figures underline the collective economic strength of the United Kingdom and how Scotland benefits from the redistribution of wealth inside the UK. 'By sharing resources with each other across the UK, Scots benefit by £2,669 more per head in public spending than the UK average. It also means that devolved governments have the financial heft of the wider UK behind them when taking decisions.' Mr Murray added that Scots want to see 'better outcomes' from the extra money the SNP has to spend on schools, hospitals and policing. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tories' shadow finance secretary, said: 'The SNP Government's own figures highlight the huge, and rising, Union dividend that Scots enjoy thanks to being in a strong United Kingdom. 'Every single person in the country is almost £2,600 better off because we are part of the UK. If we lost that – as we would if the SNP achieved their goal of Scottish independence – it would have a catastrophic impact on the nation's finances.' He said the figures also demonstrated the 'economic lunacy' of Sir Keir Starmer's opposition to allowing new exploration licences to be issued for the North Sea. Oil and gas revenues in Scotland's geographic share of the UK's waters fell by £800m last year to £4.1bn. The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report is produced by Scottish Government economists and calculates public spending on devolved services, such as health and education, by SNP ministers and local authorities. Scotland is also allocated a population share of spending by the UK Government on reserved policy areas such as defence and debt interest. The report said the main reason for Scotland's deficit increasing from 9.7 per cent to 11.7 per cent was 'Scottish revenue growing more slowly and Scottish expenditure growing more quickly than the UK'. Oil and gas raise tax revenue total Public spending in Scotland rose by £6.2bn to £117.6bn last year, the report said, with the cost of benefits rising more quickly than across the UK. This was partly thanks to the Scottish Government's more generous welfare system. Tax revenues north of the border totalled nearly £91.4bn, £91 per person higher than the UK average. However, they were £578 per person lower when oil and gas were excluded. Scotland's 11. per cent notional deficit amounted to £26.5bn, a rise of more than £5bn compared to the previous year. The next highest deficits in the EU were recorded in Romania (9.3 per cent of GDP), Poland (6.6 per cent) and France (5.8 per cent). Shona Robison, the Scottish finance secretary, said: 'The decisions we have taken here in Scotland are helping support sustainable public finances. For the fourth year in a row, devolved revenues have grown faster than devolved expenditure. 'Scotland's public finances are better than many other parts of the UK, with the third highest revenue per person in the UK, behind only London and the South East.' But Struan Stevenson, the chief executive of the pro-Union Scottish Business UK group, said: 'The sharp rise of the 'Union dividend' once again in the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland figures show that independence would be a disastrous calamity for Scotland, costing us tens of billions and almost bankrupting the nation at a stroke.'
The Independent
7 days ago
- The Independent
Reeves accused of ‘punishing families' with inheritance tax raid – that still ‘won't fill Labour's blackhole'
Rachel Reeves has been accused of 'coming for your family's future' with a possible inheritance tax raid – but a former Treasury adviser has warned the changes still won't be enough to fill the £50bn black hole. Officials are thought to be looking at scrapping the 'seven-year rule' - which means that no tax is due on any gifts you give if you live for seven years after giving them - to help address the UK's multi-billion-pound shortfall left by Labour U-turns, higher borrowing and sluggish economic growth. It comes just days after the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) piled pressure on the chancellor to come up with solutions ahead of her budget in the autumn. But Jonathan Portes, a former Treasury adviser and professor of economics and public policy at King's College London who supports the idea of inheritance tax reform, told The Independent such changes would 'certainly not raise tens of billions of pounds, or anything like it'. Tory shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride accused Labour of punishing working families to 'fund their failure', while leading analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown warned Labour may 'come to regret' making detailed changes to inheritance tax as it could hamper efforts to boost economic growth. Inheritance tax is paid when a person's estate is worth more than £325,000 when they die and is seen by many as a form of wealth tax in all but name. Under current UK rules, gifts made more than seven years before a person's death are exempt from inheritance tax. Money given less than three years before is taxed at the full inheritance tax rate of 40 per cent, while gifts given between seven and three years have a 'taper relief' tax, between eight and 32 per cent. While it is understood that no decisions have yet been taken, among the reported measures under consideration is a potential lifetime cap on gifts to limit the amount of money people can donate outside of inheritance tax, as well as reviewing rules around the taper rate, sources told The Guardian, Responding to the reports, Mr Portes said: "Inheritance tax certainly needs reform – it is too easy for very rich people with good tax advice to avoid, and it is welcome HMT [HM Treasury] is looking at this.' "More broadly, we need to tax relatively well-off older people more – whether during their lifetimes and on death. However, IHT reform will certainly not raise tens of billions or anything like it." Hitting out at the prospective measures, Sir Mel said Labour is 'coming for your family's future to fund their failure'. "Those who've worked hard, saved responsibly and hope to leave something behind shouldn't be punished to pay for Labour's economic black hole', he added. Tax experts have also raised alarm over the possible changes. With the government planning to levy inheritance tax on pensions from April 2027, Scott Gallacher, of wealth management firm Rowley Turton, warned that families with two children and an estate over £1m could be leaving more money to the chancellor than to either of their children. "The more children you have, the worse it looks. I recently told one client that, on his death, each of his four children would get just 15 per cent of his pension, while the chancellor would take 40 per cent', he said. Meanwhile, Rob Mansfield, an independent financial advisor at Rootes Wealth Management, said it could put people off from saving into their pensions. 'It's a double whammy if you're over the age of 75, as not only could you pay inheritance tax on the pension at 40 per cent, but the beneficiaries would then pay tax on any withdrawals at their marginal rates. "We need people to save more into their pensions, and taxing people for doing the right thing seems perverse." Former chancellor and businessman Nadhim Zahawi also took aim at the idea telling The Independent it could cause more wealthy individuals to leave the UK. He urged the Treasury to make further spending cuts rather than hiking taxes. 'If the chancellor wants a sure-fire way to endanger Britain's finances further, raising inheritance tax would be top of the list', he said. 'As a businessman, I know that top talent is leaving or staying away because they don't want their life's work stolen by a greedy government that won't wean itself off an addiction to wasting taxpayers' money through excessive spending.' Meanwhile, Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said reforms 'would need to be balanced against the fact that, at the moment, these gifts allow for money to pass through the generations' - something which brings in taxes such as stamp duty and VAT when the money is spent. 'They also feed more money into the economy and boost economic activity', she said, warning that a change in the rules could 'stymie this flow of cash, which could have an impact on growth.'
