TEAM
Get to know us better
Director
Clare Irvine
Clare Irvine, at just 13 years old began an apprenticeship at Structures hair design Henley in Arden in 1990.
Clare shares a love of many activities other than hairdressing, Clare’s passion for dance kept her on “her toes” right up until their first child. She has performed in many shows from a small child. And also enjoys pilates, music and various other sports.
Clare’s 30+-year career has seen her move only within a small radius due to demand from her extremely loyal client base.
From Henley to Solihull and then to Stratford, many of Clare’s clients have been with her from the start. Some of you may recognise her from her many years as a team member at Stratford’s ‘VIP’ Salon.
Clare is fully qualified as a hairdressing teacher, an assessor and an external verifier which will be facilitated in Oakley and Irvine’s in house training centre/program.
Alongside her expansive hairdressing career Clare enjoys family life with her two beautiful daughters (who conveniently also happen to be our models!).
Master Stylist
Karen Kelly
Our longest serving member of the team, Karen has been creating inspiring hair in this salon for an impressive 16 years!
Together with her NVQ 2 and 3 she also is a qualified assessor.
Very knowledgeable about her craft Karen has been on a great many additional courses on both colouring and cutting from the likes of Wella and TIGI.
In her spare time she is somewhat of a social butterfly, managing to combine family life with various short breaks, and seeing her friends and going given the opportunity!
Hugely passionate about her job she finds pleasure in making people happy, she enjoys conversation and has a wide range of pastimes including, Shopping and fashion, reading and music.
Colour Specialist
Michelle Leigh
Michelle has worked in the industry for over 20 years across Stratford and Henley working for some of the best names in the area.
She gained her qualifications aged 18 then decided to specialise as a colour technician and has become very well regarded in her field. She is very passionate about all aspects of colour and likes nothing more than transforming someone's hair, she has attended many L'Oréal and Tigi courses over the years and has taken part in the L'Oréal Colour Trophy many times reaching the regional finals.
Master Stylist
Charlotte
Charlotte has many years’ of experience in Hairdressing, starting out in the industry in 1993 she completed a 6 month course with Tigi before starting at an award winning Midlands salon Lawerence Anthony in 1994 which Charlotte worked her way up to becoming the manager.
She was twice awarded the finalist position for Midlands Hairdresser of the year, has completed Wella /Tigi/American Crew courses & is a Keraste Ambassador. She has worked a lot on photo shoots throughout her years of hairdressing. Charlotte is experienced in all aspects of hair industry including men's hairdressing. She particularly enjoys cutting short hair but Is also up for the challenge of a re-style.
Rising Star
Annie
Annie is our first-year apprentice here at Oakley and Irvine. She loves watching the girls transform their client’s hair and hearing them give clients advice on how to look after and improve their hair. She loves learning new things every day, challenging herself and always pushing to succeed. She has enjoyed doing peoples hair since she was younger and has always dreamt of being as successful and creative as possible. Annie always says, ‘I want to be able to make peoples hair dreams come true’. In her spare time, she loves to socialise and explore new places.
Rising Star
Emma
At only sixteen years old, Emma started her apprenticeship here at Oakley and Irvine back in September 2021. Even at such a young age, it is clear that she is extremely focussed and is keen to learn from the best of the best within the hair industry. Emma splits her weeks, working in both the Alcester and Stratford upon Avon salon, meaning she can see how the stylists work in both salons which she finds really benefits her learning. Out of work, she really enjoys an active lifestyle, loves to shop and spending time with her loved ones.