A BOLTON town centre company is celebrating 25 years of being in business beautifully.

The Beauty Lounge in Bark Street East was opened by owner Angela Close in a 200 year-old Georgian building 13 years ago after being in other central premises. She spent £70,000 turning it into a state-of-the-art beauty salon as well as retaining many of the original features of the historic building.

Angela started her career at a salon in the Last Drop Village. She moved into her first business, close to where she later opened her own salon, in a hairdresser’s on the corner of Bark Street East and Higher Bridge Street before going into bigger premises in Central Street.

“I had built up my business slowly over the years then and initially had just one employee with me – Catherine Ralph,” explained Angela. “At Central Street, my business had reached the stage where I needed larger premises and when I saw the building on Bark Street East I just knew it was the right place for me.”

Since then, Angela has increased her staff to five and added to the services The Beauty Lounge offers. As well as facials, skincare, nail treatments and massages, the salon uses prestigious Guinot products and Angela herself specialises in colonic treatments.

“The beauty business has changed significantly over the years,” she stated. “It now looks at helping people both inside and out in a holistic way. This is a side of the business that is very satisfying for me as I feel it makes a real difference to people’s lives.”

The hard work and customer care has paid off. They now have clients coming from Manchester and Liverpool as well as from all over the Bolton area. One client comes regularly from London for treatments.

“Yes, it is satisfying to know that people come a distance to us because they are happy with what we provide here,” added Angela. “It is a source of real pride that I have a business that has lasted 25 years and is still going strong.”