A SALON owner has said how proud she is after her business was recognised at a national awards evening.

Zoe Martin, who owns Sunkissed in Main Road, Dovercourt, revealed the salon came sixth in the ‘best team’ category.

Sunkissed also placed within the top 20 ‘best of brows’ category at the national awards.

The 41-year-old said: “When they were nominated I was bursting with pride. My team put their hearts and souls into my salon and to get this sort of recognition is just unbelievable.

“I have been running the salon for more than five years now and to see how far we have come has just been completely amazing.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Zoe Martin runs the salonZoe Martin runs the salon

“I can’t believe the little salon I originally opened has grown so much.”

“My girls and Jack are more than a team, they’re family and I love them so much. I am super proud of every single one of them and it’s down to my team and our clients why I love running the salon so much.

“So many people ask me ‘why don’t you open another salon’ but if I’m honest, that’s not something on my agenda as I put my heart and soul into Sunkissed and I don’t feel I could do that if I was to open another one.

“I feel so lucky to have found the perfect team to help build the salon and take it to the next level. Our clients are truly amazing and many of them have become such wonderful friends.”

While lockdown left the hair and beauty industry in the wilderness, Mrs Martin, who lives in Colchester, saw an opportunity to improve.

She added: “I’ve tried taking the positives out of lockdown. I used it to get things done which I would never have managed to do when we are busy.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: The team at SunkissedThe team at Sunkissed

“I have refurbished the salon and completely rebranded my logo, as well as setting up a new booking system.”

Mrs Martin also credited the town for helping build her success, adding: “I decided to open my business in Harwich as I had a good feeling about the area.

“The support and love from the locals has been absolutely amazing and I have made many friends through running the place.

“I can honestly say my little salon is growing year on year and it’s all thanks to my amazing team.

“We have huge plans for the future as we are eager to push ourselves to a new level especially now we have UK finalists among our team.”