About Sally
This year, I celebrate twenty-five years in business.
It all began back in 1984 when I opened my first salon on Friargate in Derby. I then went on to open a salon inside Derby University.
In 1998 I opened the largest of my salons, which also became our Head Office. This is situated on Irongate in the City Centre. This is also where I have my training school. My team of apprentices get five-star training to the highest standard. They must reach this standard in order to become a stylist within the Group. Having my own training school is a great way of ensuring that my future stylists are trained to the standard that I expect for my salons.
Two years ago I opened the latest addition to the Sally Montague Hair Group at the Old Hall on St. Peter's Churchyard, Derby. The building is steeped in history having once been a boys' school amongst other things! Now finally it's my flagship salon and spa, The Old Hall.
From a very early age, I was always interested in fashion and in particular colour, which then led me to thinking about a career in hairdressing.
I started my training with a well-known hairdressing chain in the Midlands, when I was just fifteen. I worked as hard as I possibly could to become a stylist within eighteen months.
I then worked my way up the ladder going from a Junior Stylist to a member of the Artistic Team. With the Artistic Team I travelled the country and gained a lot of extremely valuable experience. It was ten years later that ambition got the better of me and I decided that I wanted my own salon. It was hard to leave the security, but I really knew that I had to move forward and I had very strong ideas of how I wanted my salon to be and to be run the way I felt best.
So twenty-five years later, I own four salons and have a total workforce of 45. My staff are a great team - many of whom have been with me for many years. Some who started out as apprentices and have worked their way through the company to be Artistic Leaders and Management. I certainly would not be where I am today without the dedication and loyalty of my team.
My most major achievement was winning Business Person of the Year. I beat off stiff competition in all sorts of other business sectors and it was great to have my team and family there to support me.
My most recent role has seen me as a Salon Facilitator for a Foundation Degree course in hairdressing.
I still work on the salon floor four days a week and for the rest of the time, I run the Group - overseeing the team, training, stock and mountains of paperwork! There have been many creative and exciting times along the way but most recently being invited to work backstage at London Fashion Week and doing the hair for the Clothes Show at the NEC every December for the last six years.
My philosophy on hair is varied, but always carefully thought out. I believe that it is the details that define the style. I personalise every client's cut, so that they leave the salon feeling uniquely fantastic. It is important to me that all my clients feel that they have experienced a truly relaxing visit and will therefore return again and again, as many have for the last 25 years and I thank them very much for their loyal support.
Sally Montague
Proprietor and Creative Director
"I believe that it is the details that define the style. I try and personalise each and every client's cut, so that they leave the salon feeling uniquely fantastic."