Alan d Hairdressing Education is celebrating the success of its Ipswich team in reaching the L’Oréal Colour Trophy grand final in London in the Men’s category.

The achievement wasn’t without trauma though as their chosen model, Mario Vitti was stuck in Italy until late Saturday night.

Luckily for the team, they had worked on Mario’s hair regularly in the build-up to Sunday’s event and just had time to add the finishing touches at the academy before driving across to RAF Duxford, in Cambridgeshire, for the Eastern Region Final.

Creative director Edward Hemmings said “I’m so proud of the hard work Marc Simpson and Charlotte Jones put in. We have long seen the trend for longer men’s hair, but they were insistent that Mario with his shoulder-length hair was a winner.

“Charlotte planned the colour by a series of technical drawings and Marc had the finishing techniques perfected. We were all conscious that the look had to be commercial and more important masculine. Together with a bespoke suit create by Stephen Williams Tailoring I think the look was perfect. We simply can’t wait for London.”

The national finals take place at Battersea Evolution in on June 5.