Strands Skin Spa and Health Salon is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Since its inception in December 1978, the hair and beauty salon has relocated from Bermudiana Road to Reid Street and grown from five to 35 employees.

And this year it marked 30 years in business with a prize draw to win a week's Caribbean cruise for two, which was won by Julie Clemento.

The business, which is owned and run by William and Carole Mayo, started out as a hairdresser's before expanding into a full spa salon complete with sauna, steam room, nine treatment rooms and pedicure area serviced by nine therapists and 10 hairdressers and support staff.

"We started with five employees and now we have got 35 employees, so we have had a reasonable amount of growth," said Mr. Mayo.

"We have become somewhat diversified in our business in so much as we started off as just a hairdressing salon and then we got into the beauty side, opening our first salon in Bermudiana Road, where we started off with six treatment rooms together with a fill spa facility and whirlpool, before we had the opportunity to buy into our own building in Reid Street."

The hub of the operations is at the 5,000 square foot building in Reid Street, with an additional warehouse and office, while the company also distributes a range of Clarins skin care products, as well as perfumes by Thierry Mugler, Azzaro and American designer David Yurman.

"We decided to launch the 30th anniversary campaign in May with five weekly prizes on offer and a sixth prize with every 30th customer getting a $30 gift certificate," he said.

"It culminated in our grand prize of the Eastern Caribbean cruise for two on the Royal Caribbean ship the Solstice in 2009, which was won by Julie Clemento."

Mr. Mayo, who is originally from Manchester, England, himself began his career in hairdressing at the age of 15 as an apprentice before becoming qualified as a hairdresser and then grabbing the chance to come to Bermuda to ply his trade working under the astute tutelage of Jane Lloyd of Jane Hairdressers in 1970.

When she retired, he took over the company and turned it into Strands, never looking back since.

"We just worked very hard, we always tried to employ the best staff we could find both locally and internationally and provided training for staff and the best facility for clients as well," said Mr. Mayo.

"I just saw the need to go into the beauty market and I could see there was a demand for it and it was definitely going to grow and the business was going to move over to that in the next few years."

Among the highlights of his time in the industry, Mr. Mayo puts being published in five top international hairdressing magazines, including Hair, Hairdressers' Journal, Passion, Norbu and Peluguerias.

"It was a huge achievement and I do not know of any other salon locally that has been able to achieve that, and we still do our own photographic work to this day," he said.

One of the biggest changes he has seen over the past 30 years has been the move from using the old fashioned rollers to blow-drying, while the beauty side of the industry has also really taken off, he claims.

"I think the biggest single change that the industry has seen is the wash and care products and using blow drying rather than the old roller setting," Mr. Mayo said.

"When I first started it was just changing, so it was going from a bit of the old and moving into the new.

"On the beauty side, what has really changed the most is that it has become almost a regime norm for women, but men have also seen probably the largest growth, including getting facials, manicures and the like."