Carlton Chosen by International Beauty Academy

The newly created state of the art Qatar International Beauty Academy Tajmeel has chosen to use Carlton Professional equipment and furniture.

Officially opened to VIPs and the press on 12th November 2009, the Academy was funded by a generous donor. It was created on the first floor of the Social Development Centre, which is part of the charitable association, Qatar Foundation.

No expense was spared when creating the new Academy. The top of the range facilities include a theory suite with interactive white board and 16 laptops, so that students can easily download information during lecturers. The aim is also to introduce online testing. Additional facilities include a practical room featuring 8 stations of Carlton Professional MB400/4 couches, trolleys and lamps and Carlton Professional electrotherapy equipment, as well as a make-up studio with 6 stations. A hairdressing room with 8 stations has also been added, with courses due to commence in October 2010. The luxurious Academy is completed by a student library, student quiet area and a variety of administration offices.

Interestingly, the Academy is run by a management team from Yorkshire College of Beauty Therapy.
Joanne Cusworth, General Manager of the Yorkshire College Management Team, explained, “The Social Development Centre, which owns the Academy, is constantly looking to bring in new projects to support their educational system. To this end, they worked with a consultancy to create a feasibility study to research the best qualifications in the world and the colleges which supply these. Quite simply, they want the best of everything and have branches of many of the top universities in the world located in Education City in Dohar. Having undertaken their research they decided they wanted to introduce beauty therapy. Yorkshire College of Beauty Therapy was approached about the Academy in December 2007. After 18 months of negotiations, we signed a contract with them in April 2009.”

The management team were then given plans of the area to be used and initially assisted the Social Development Centre with the design of the area on the first floor. The long term goal is to move the Academy, to facilitate its predicted expansion, to Education City in 3 years or so. One of the challenges facing the management team was the difficulty of getting supplies into Qatar, as the customs laws are incredibly tight and currently the Dohar based suppliers aren’t able to offer the necessary items and equipment. The team from Yorkshire College of Beauty Therapy already used Carlton Professional equipment in their own facility so it seemed the natural choice for the new academy.

Commenting on this decision, Joanne Cusworth said, “Carlton Professional equipment is ‘student proof’. Our experience of it at Yorkshire College of Beauty Therapy is that it is high quality, sturdy and durable. The equipment is also really easy for the students to work with.”

The Academy has recently been accredited by both ITEC and CIBTAC and offers these plus City & Guild hairdressing qualifications and short courses, in subjects such as makeup and Indian head massage, within its curriculum. The aim is to develop the full time courses to around 50 students in each year while the short courses could ultimately accommodate 350 students each year. In the long term the Academy aims to gain accreditation from CIDESCO.

For further information about Qatar International Beauty Academy call 00 974 4380 261 or visit www.qiba.com.qa To contact Yorkshire College of Beauty Therapy call 0113 2509507 or visit www.ycob.co.uk For further information about Carlton Professional call The Carlton Group on 01903 761100.