The joint owners of the Stowmarket branch of a barbers network are celebrating after winning a top award for their business.

Tom Old and Mark Lovell opened the franchise - called MR.Barbers - in Ipswich Street, two years ago and it has gone from strength to strength.

They are part of a group of 21 MR.Barbers shop in East Anglia and Hertfordshire, including Colchester, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Sudbury and Newmarket.

The group beat other finalists to win the trade award, the Best Group of Businesses in the NHF’s Hair and Beauty Business Awards.

Tom attended the final in Birmingham and said: “It was a great surprise and it shows that all our hard work is paying off. We’ve got a lot of support from customers.”

The MR.Barbers group beat finalists from across the country to win the award run by the NHF, the UK’s largest trade association for hairdressing, barbering and beauty salon owners.