A NORTH East barber has won a prestigious award at an international competition this week.

Matty Maxwell, store manager at Head Quarters Barbers in Middlesbrough, won the prestigious award of “Beard and Moustache Champion 2021” this week at Salon International in Excel in London.

Mr Maxwell joined Head Quarters Barbers in April 2021 and his passion for barbering has taken him to the main Barber Clash Stage to pitch his talents against four other finalists at the event.

This accolade was sponsored by Modern Barber magazine and supported by Mike Taylor and Captain Fawcett as experienced barbers in their own fields of barbering academies as trainers.

Read more: Dad's sweetspot for his children leads naming new sweetshop after them

Head Quarters was born out of frustration in lockdown; Mike Racz, CEO, was tired of poor service and needing to wait for appointments with mainstream barbers.

Mr Racz took it upon himself to start Head Quarters Barbers, a unique experience where the salons had a self-serve bar at the reception, comfy leather sofas to relax on, well trained uniformed staff to make the whole experience a luxury.

The price point was to be competitive, offer a free drink on arrival and no wait times, with the next barber availability showing on the real-time window displays.

Mr Maxwell said: “I am blown away by this, my son was super proud and wants to be a barber just like me, it’s an amazing award to bring back to the team in the North East.

" I can’t quite believe it.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Teesside Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054