Newly-qualified students  from across Essex attended the 2015 gradation ceremony for  the Central Training Academy, Britain’s largest centre for teaching the hairdressers of the future.
This year Central once again beat all other academies in the industry, with a bumper crop of 286 achievers.
A record number of them attended the official graduation ceremony which, this year, was compered by Essex Paralympian Gold Medal winner, Danny Crates.
Danny presented certificates and awards to, among others, young hairdressers, barbers, graphic designers and management apprentices.
He also inspired them to break barriers and achieve their aspirations just as he has done in his sporting career. He said: ” I am delighted that my own personal circumstances and my sporting success clearly inspired Central graduates.
“With hard work and determination you can achieve so much more than you may realise. I wanted to make the audience aware of this as many of them are just at the start of their careers.”
Among the new graduates receiving their awards were eight young people who had worked particularly hard and overcome difficulties to achieve their goals.
The final award of the event, the Learner of the Year, went to Leanne Cooper, 18, who is an apprentice at Evolution Hair salon in Southchurch Road, Southend. Keryl Titmus, Central’s Group Head of Curriculum for Hairdressing, praised all the graduates and said selecting one overall learner of the year had been tough.
She said: “Leanne has progressed and grown massively within her own self direction and her ability.
“Her confidence has improved and she has worked very hard, so that now she has completed her apprenticeship in a salon.”
A strong year for Central Training has seen publication of the latest edition of City & Guilds standard guide to hairdressing, once again written by Keryl.  The  manual is used as a course model and student textbook by tens of thousands of students across the world.