A government minister received a facial treatment at a Romford hair and beauty academy to mark National Apprenticeship Week.

Minister for Skills Alex Burghart visited Falltricks Hairdressing Academy in the Liberty Shopping Centre on Tuesday, February 8, meeting people undertaking hairdressing traineeships in preparation for apprenticeships.

“Apprenticeships are a fantastic way to earn while you learn, get experience alongside people who really understand the job,” said Mr Burghart, who is MP for Brentwood and Ongar.

%image(15308660, type="article-full", alt="Alex Burghart speaks to Billy Moore, director of education at the hairdressing academy.")

%image(15308666, type="article-full", alt="Falltricks Hairdressing Academy")

“That’s why I’ve come to Romford to see some of the fantastic work that’s being done in hairdressing and barbering”.

Traineeships are courses with work experiences which prepare people for work or an apprenticeship and they can last between six weeks and a year.

The minister said: “They are providing a bridge between formal education and being in full-time employment, perhaps ultimately running their own businesses.

“This is the sort of staging post where they get to do a bit of work, they also do quite a lot of training and they are running up against people who really know their sector and their tradecraft well.”

Mary Santos, one of the trainees who spoke to the minister, said she had started her course in September and hopes to get a job in a salon before eventually becoming a mobile hairdresser.

%image(15308670, type="article-full", alt="The minister speaking to trainee Mary Santos.")

%image(15308673, type="article-full", alt="Alex Burghart spoke to people doing traineeships at the academy.")

The 24-year-old mum said the traineeships allow a flexibility that other forms of education do note.

“The time is quite flexible, I can either come one day, or – as I have a child – two days and I can finish earlier,” she said.

Falltricks, which opened in 2009, offers apprenticeships, traineeships, occupational traineeships and private courses in hairdressing and barbering.

It trains staff for around 150 salons across Essex and London, and since August 2021 has overseen 200 traineeships, 70 per cent of which have gone on to apprenticeships.

During his visit, Mr Burghart received a “facial treatment at speed” from teacher-trainer Florin Robert Tarcan, 43, and the treatment left him feeling “fresh” and “young”.

%image(15308677, type="article-full", alt="Alex Burghart receives treatment.")

%image(15308680, type="article-full", alt="The minister receives a facial treatment from teacher-trainer Florin Robert Tarcan.")

%image(15308685, type="article-full", alt="The minister said the treatment had left him feeling "fresh".")

Afterwards, the minister handed out occupational traineeship certificates for hairdressing and barbering, as well as special achievement awards to staff and trainees.