South Shields woman opens luxury salon and training academy

A young entrepreneur from South Shields has launched a brand-new luxury nail salon and training academy in the town, after working incredibly hard for years planning the business.

28-year-old Abbey Derrante, who is the proud owner of The Nail Geek and Co which is located at 27 Aldwych Street in South Shields, has worked as a nail technician for many years.

She previously worked in other salons, but decided to become self-employed in January 2020.

Abbey explained: “I soon realised that I had my own style that I wanted to go with, I had a vision of where I wanted to take my business.”

As the coronavirus pandemic happened months later, Abbey’s ideas for her own nail salon business were halted, but instead of this dampening her spirit, she used the time to continue planning and connecting with customers.

She said: “It was very tough times but in a way Covid helped my business as it allowed me to connect with new clients online, focus on practising my skills, and also allowed me to focus on the business idea and put a business plan in place.”

Once it Covid restrictions were lifted, Abbey was able to resume her work launching The Nail Geek and Co, and spent three years working from a home studio, which was set up by her husband, Curtis.

“It was quite a small space,” Abbey explained. “But it was perfect for me and my clients.”

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However, Abbey hoped to own a bigger salon, where she could not only provide to clients but also train aspiring nail technicians.

“I completed my educators diploma, and I’ve been building on training manuals, and putting lesson plans in place, ready to start teaching,” Abbey said.

Abbey soon secured the premises on Aldwych Street, which she described as “the perfect place to have a salon and training academy.”

Abbey explained of her passion to train others: “I really want to build something where people can walk away fully confident in knowing that they can provide treatments to clients with the confidence and the skill.

“I’m building six week courses, where they will train in the salon for one day a week, but will also submit case studies.

“I just felt that the training that was already out there was very basic, and wasn’t giving people the confidence they needed to build their own business.”

Abbey and her husband Curtis worked tirelessly to create Abbey’s dream salon from scratch, which they have now achieved, and can celebrate their hard work as the salon opens to the public.

The Nail Geek and Co is home to four nail desks, two pedicure stations, two beauty rooms and two beauty stations.

Abbey’s current team consists of another nail technician named Rachel, who has been receiving training from Abbey and will be fully qualified in December, Erika who provides lashes and brows, and an advanced skin specialist who will officially join the team later this year.