A THURROCK woman is in the running for four top awards in a national hair and beauty competition – the result of 20 years of developing her skills and building a business.

Leigh-Anne Turpin 37, from Stanford-le-Hope has been a hairdresser for 20 years, adding beauty and aesthetics expertise to her talents along the way.

She always had a dream to have her own salon and training academy and despite the trauma of husband Wayne suffering a stroke a few years ago she decided to go into business for herself.

She found a shop on Southend Road in Grays and, as her nickname was Buffy she called the business Buffs Hair and beauty Bar – and the rest, as they say, is history.

Buffs opened its doors for the first time in 2018 and has proved very successful, with Leigh-Anne assembling a skilled team around her.

She specialises in big colour changes and loves colouring and a challenge, which has included taking a teaching degree and writing her own hair and beauty treatment manuals that have been fully accredited.

Now she offers her own hair and beauty courses from the salon and wants to help more mums and the youngster generation make their mark in the profession. One aspect of the business that has been particularly successful are the teen workshops she runs at weekends, helping young people find their feet at the start of their careers,

And the icing on the cake came this week with news that she has been selected as a finalist in four categories of the Hair and Beauty Awards UK 2021, in the categories of 'Entrepreneur of the Year', 'Best New Talent', 'Best Colour Salon' and 'Best of Blonde.

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She has won over the judges so far, but her biggest fan remains husband Wayne who told Thurrock Nub News: "She is such a hard worker, I'm very proud of her."