Triple delight for Chesterfield stylist in UK Hair and Beauty Awards

Jess Peprah is a finalist in two categories of the UK Hair and Beauty Awards

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An innovative Chesterfield hairdresser who offers specialist styling is in the running for three major awards.

Jess Peprah is in the final of three categories of the UK Hair and Beauty Awards, less than six months after opening a salon.

She is up for best hairdresser, rising star and best new talent of the year. "I am so excited,” said Jess. “I can’t wait to attend the red carpet event in Birmingham on April 22.”

Braiding and cornrows keep Jess busy at her Jpepssbeauty salon in The Clocktower in Hollingwood where she has 400 customers on her books. She said: “There is no-one doing this in Chesterfield. Loads of my clients used to travel to Sheffield, Nottingham and Stoke on Trent to get their hair braided so they are happy they found someone like me in Chesterfield.”

Jess Peprah creates works of art with her clients' hair.

She devotes up to eight hours braiding the hair of a client for which she would charge a maximum £240. Cornrows start at £25.

Jess, 26, who lives in Boythorpe, also offers a weaving technique to help people who have alopecia or hair loss and is a wig maker.

Although she’s had an interest in hair styling since she was eight when she used to braid her mum’s hair, Jess had originally planned to follow a different career path. She said: “I studied fashion in Amsterdam and the plan was to move to England and continue my fashion degree. I moved to Chesterfield to live with my uncle and aunt when I was 19. I quickly realised that Chesterfield was not the place for fashion! I took a job in Tesco so I could save enough money to go to London to continue my degree.”

Redundancy from Tesco forced Jess into looking for an alternative source of income. She said: “I’d only ever done hair for family and friends before and they’d always liked what I’d done – so I thought I’d give it a go.”

Jess gained qualifications in hairdressing and beauty therapy at Chesterfield College. She built up her client base by working as a mobile stylist and renting a chair at a salon on Saltergate. Four months ago she opened her own salon in Hollingwood.

She said: “My end goal is to become an academy where I teach people about curly hair, Afro hair and European hair and what products to use."

Not only did Jess find a new career in Chesterfield, but she also found love. Jess and her husband Richard now have a four-year-old daughter Neriah.