Local boy's a cut above the rest

Thursday night was an evening of celebratory achievement as Entrepreneurs’ Forum and If we can, you can member Darren Williams, founder of hair and beauty business Hair X-Tensions, took home the title of North East Young Business Executive of the Year at the annual awards run by the Journal and the Evening Gazette.

The award caps an extraordinary year for the Sunderland based firm, which Darren established in 2005 with his partner Angela Place. The Young Business Executive of the Year award is their tenth award in thirteen months, recent accolades include the British Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Award, the Entrepreneur of the Year title for Sunderland Portfolio Awards and the If we can, you can Face of Entrepreneurship 2011, run by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum.

Serial entrepreneurs Darren and Angela set Hair X Tensions up to produce 100 per cent quality hair for a global market, traded through the website www.buyhair.co.uk¹. The firm is currently in negotiations with a high profile celebrity to bring out a range of hair extensions to retail through supermarkets and high street giants.

The evening itself consisted of extreme high jinks for Darren, who moved mountains to ensure he made it to the stage on time to accept his trophy. Despite being struck with car trouble and weather warnings, Darren’s determination to accept his award shone through. He made a heroic effort to get there in time, trekking most of the journey to the awards venue, the Gosforth Park hotel, and arrived minutes before being announced as the Young Business Executive of the Year, heavily exhausted but bursting with pride .

Speaking about his latest win, modest Darren said he was “extremely honoured and grateful to be recognised for all of their hard work. Not even the treacherous weather conditions were going to stop me standing up there with the best in business; I abandoned the car, slipped on my walking boots and started out on the route to Newcastle, just making it in time”.

Also taking away awards during the evening, were an illustrious list of business big hitters;

• Teesside and North East Business Executive of the Year - Stewart Smith, Ramsdens Financial, Middlesbrough

• Tyneside and Northumberland Business Executive of the Year - Andrew Esson, managing director, ContiTech Beattie

• Durham and Wearside Business Executive of the Year - Tony Cleary, managing director, Lanchester Wine Cellars

• Lifetime Achievement - Dr Herbert Loebl

• Non-Executive Director of the Year - sponsored by a consortium of local businesses: Stewart Vaughan