A HAIRDRESSER is swapping Darlington for Vegas to see if he can cut it against some of the best in the industry.

Nicholas Holmes, owner of the Hobson and Holmes salon on Tillage Green, West Park, scooped a Gold award at Goldwell’s annual Color Zoom Summer Party in London on Sunday night.

The theme of the contest was Traditional Rebels and Mr Holmes’ funky take on the trend won him a Gold award in the ceremony’s Partner Category and secured his place at an international competition in Las Vegas this October.

At the Vegas competition, Mr Holmes will be given three-hours to recreate his winning design in front of a panel of judges.

He will be competing against stylists who have won Goldwell contests across the globe and Mr Holmes said he was looking forward to testing himself on the world stage.

He added: “In the global event there will be about 60 countries entered and it’s going to be a kind of Eurovision-style competition.

“I’ll have three hours to recreate the image I won with, so the pressure will be on but I’m quietly confident.

“I had a lot of great feedback from Goldwell and others.”

Mr Holmes’ winning hair design was modelled by Darlington model Becky Summers and she will join him on the Vegas trip along with his partner and a friend.

The competition runs over the first week in October and winners of each category will gain maximum exposure and have the chance to work on designing hair colours for the next Goldwell Colour Zoom Collection.