Hair salon gets Edwardian facelift

Rother chairman Cllr Robin Patten gave the official seal of approval to the newly-refurbished Janette Warner hair salon in Sea Road last Thursday.

Offering his congratulations to owners Jill and Ken Rushbrooke and all who had been associated with the project, he said the 650,000 three-year funding programme Rother is running with English Heritage backing had already achieved six shop-front make-overs in its first year with another 14 in the pipeline.

Not only was this highly encouraging but the success of the scheme was encouraging other businesses to improve their appearance.

Jill and Ken's architect, builder, salon products supplier and other guests were told by the chairman: "We are hoping that by the end of the third year we will have done a total of about 30 shops and this is having a lot of impact on the town."

He added: "There are several HERS projects throughout the country. I think this one in Bexhill is a leading example of how HERS operates with English Heritage, Rother and East Sussex County Council together with Bexhill Regeneration Partnership working together.

"But it would be nothing if it were not for the participating businesses."

For Jill and Ken, the new shopfront is only part of a total refurbishment package which is the culmination of 16 years of work and improvement since they took over the business.

By removing old cubicles and putting in a transverse wall, they have given the salon a more spacious look and increased the number of "dress-out" positions to nine.

The salon boasts new equipment in black to contrast with the Juicy Jade decor.

On behalf of her mother, Samantha thanked the chairman for coming and their guests for their part in achieving the transformation.