A unique partnership between a barbers and West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds aiming to make students more work-ready has been officially launched.

Mr Barbers, which runs 26 shops across the country, including salons in Bury, Ipswich, Sudbury, Haverhill, Newmarket and Colchester, will offer professional and practical training to apprentices at the college’s InVogue Salon.

The partnership has been launched after the number of barbering apprentices has doubled at the further education college.

Marnie Randall, hairdressing and barbering subject leader at West Suffolk College, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with such a renowned company as Mr Barbers to improve the education we can offer to barbering students.

“We have created a dedicated section of the salon to barbering students and it is great to have experts from Mr Barbers providing the professional teaching while the college provides the theory element.

“Barbering has become very cool in recent years and we are seeing that in the number of students coming to study it at the college.”

Last month, Mr Barbers opened a teaching academy in Mill Road, Cambridge and will now be offering a similar level of expertise to students in Bury St Edmunds, where it operates two shops.

Sam Prior, co-owner and founder of Mr Barbers, said: “We wanted to set up an apprenticeship scheme as we found that people were coming to us not quite work-ready, so we wanted to bridge that gap.

“We have had apprentices from West Suffolk College and they have all been great – so it made sense to partner with the college.

“This is an exciting partnership with so many benefits for students. We look forward to working with students and helping them become the best barbers they can be.”

To find out more about West Suffolk College’s barbering qualifications, visit www.wsc.ac.uk or to find out more about Mr Barbers, visit www.mrbarbers.co.uk