THE owner of a hairdressing salon who trained at Bolton’s Toni and Guy has offered a lifeline to staff members who lost their jobs on New Year’s Eve.

Toni and Guy in Deansgate shut up shop for the last time last week after fighting a losing battle against soaring rent and business rates. Twelve members of staff lost their jobs.

News of the salon's demise saddened Kimberley Wilkinson, owner of Hair by Kim and Co in Chorley Old Road, Bolton.

Miss Wilkinson, aged 30, spent seven years at Toni and Guy before striking out to launch her current salon two years ago.

“Although I was fully trained when I went to Toni and Guy, the extra training I received there was amazing,” she said. “It is because of what I learnt there that I am succeeding in my business.

“It’s such a shame they couldn’t keep going.”

Miss Wilkinson, who also employs another former Toni and Guy hairstylist, Helen Sergenson, aged 23, said she has vacancies for possibly two members of staff.

“I am looking to expand,” she said. “It would be great to take people on who have that level of expertise and knowledge.”

Toni and Guy was part of a chain of more than 300 similar salons across the UK and had a presence in Bolton town centre for 12 years.

On the day the shop closed, boss Andy Jones admitted the shop had not been making any money and described telling the staff about the impending closure as the worst day of his professional life. Miss Wilkinson can be contacted on 01204 849067.