Edinburgh hair salon Leanne Reilly Hair & Beauty wins national awards as the Craigentinny salon marks eight years in business

Awards mark Craigentinny salon’s eighth birthday

Edinburgh hair salon Leanne Reilly Hair & Beauty received the perfect birthday present this month, picking up national awards as it marks eight years in business this weekend.

The salon, which moved to Craigentinny from Leith in May this year, won Beauty Salon of the Year Scotland at the Nation’s Hair and Beauty Awards in Birmingham earlier this month, before last Sunday picking up overall winner for Scotland Regional Winners 2023 at The Scottish Beauty Industry Awards in Glasgow.

The Craigentinny Road salon was also named The Best Customer Experience Salon 2023 at the NBL Awards and picked up awards for Highly Commended Freelance Hair Stylist Of The Year 2023 and 5-Star Hair Salon of the Year 2023.

Leanne Reilly pictured with her salon's latest award and also with her mum May Morrison at the ceremony in Glasgow last Sunday.

Delighted salon owner Leanne Reilly thanked her team and clients for this latest success as she gears up to celebrate eight years in business this weekend. She said: “We have won many awards in our eight years in business but this past month has seen our biggest achievements. I have been to three awards ceremonies this year and we won again last Sunday in Glasgow.

"We are having a party this weekend to mark our recent achievements and our eight years in business. We will have live entertainment on Saturday in the salon, where clients will join us, to thank them for sticking by us over the years. I’m proud of my team here. They are like my family, we trust each other, it’s a real team effort, all pulling together, that’s got us to where we are today.

"I have got a wall of fame at the salon for all our awards, but I’m running out of space now as we have won more than 15 awards. And this is the third time we have won regional winner for Scotland. You get a mystery shopper in the salon. People can vote as well and they look at customer feedback online. So the award is given out on a combination of those three things.

"I’m over the moon with our latest success, particularly after moving the salon this year. Obviously when you go to these awards ceremonies there is high-class talent in every category so to win these awards is a massive achievement.”

Leanne said it was the ‘high service’ at her salon that kept customers coming back. She said: "I have got really good clients and a great team. We provide massage chairs like you see in the airport, which just really relax clients. People come back to us as we deliver a really high service.

"We take our time and really look after our clients. There are only four of us, it’s a small team. We moved from Leith as we had problems with the tramworks. Now we have got a bigger salon and there are plenty of places to park. In Leith there were double yellow lines outside the salon and then they brought in permit zones, which was a problem for our clients.

"The move has actually brought us more clients. Our clients followed us from Leith and we have clients that travel to us from Fife, East Lothian and even from Glasgow.”

Speaking about the salon’s success and her biggest supporters, Leanne added: "We specialise in hair extensions and nails here. Hair colouring also. It keeps us very busy. Our clients all come from recommendations, word of mouth and reviews. Obviously the awards help attract clients too.

"We managed to survive Covid, which was tough. I just believe in ‘never give up’. As long as you have the right team behind you then you can achieve what you want to achieve. My husband Kevin and mum May are my biggest supporters. My mum was at the awards ceremony with me last Sunday which was lovely. You should have seen her reaction when we won overall winner for Scotland.”