A Knaresborough salon is holding an official launch party nearly three years after trading began.

Loft, located on Finkle Keep in Knaresborough, began as a lockdown project and opened its doors in late 2020.

Teresa McDowell, who offers laser hair removal treatments at the salon, said the previously derelict building had been transformed into a “quirky and quaint” business.

The salon offers traditional beauty services, such as nails, hair, and massages, as well as aesthetic treatments including Botox and filler. Those that work at the salon are all self-employed.

Ms McDowell said the delayed open day was due to the previous team “not gelling” with one another, but she added the current team was “finally solid” enough to warrant a celebration.

She added:

“We are different to all the other salons in the area.

“The thing I love about the salon is that we don’t follow the trends – we are the trend”.

The open day is free to attend and will include drinks and nibbles, as well as live demonstrations of the services on offer.

Goodie bags will also be available to the first 20 people that attend, as well as discounts for future bookings.

The open day will take place on Saturday, May 27, from 1pm.

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Harrogate medical professionals have welcomed new laws which will require people administering Botox or fillers to have a licence.

The government has announced an amendment to the Health and Care Bill which intends to introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

It follows an “unacceptable” rise in reports of botched cosmetic procedures in the UK.

Nurse Sharon Bennett, director of Harrogate Aesthetics, on Princes Square, is the chair of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN).

For years she has played a major role in fighting to push the legislation through, stating that it was “long overdue”.

However, she said the BACN continued to campaign for only regulated healthcare professionals to be able to carry out these procedures.

Only healthcare practitioners

Ms Bennett, who also sits on the clinical governance committee for the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), said:

“We have been part of the advisory group informing government to improve patient safety and to make some form of legislation.

“My personal view is that we don’t need legislation if the government just said only healthcare practitioners can practice. Then there would be no need, because we are all regulated. That would be ideal.

“There will always be rogue practitioners, but they are at least accountable and the regulators can deal with them and get rid of them.

“However, you can currently go anywhere in this area and get an injectable. They might claim they are an ‘aesthetic practitioner’, but might have only done a one-day course and before this they were a taxi driver or something. That’s where the problems lie.”

The “scope and details” of the new regulations will be “determined via extensive engagement including a public consultation”, the Department of Health said.

The scheme would aim to bring in consistent standards that practitioners must meet and set out hygiene and safety standards for premises.

Details on the public consultation on non-surgical cosmetic procedures are expected to be set out at a later date.

Rogue injectors

Dr Claire Seddon, who is a practising GP, runs aesthetics clinics in Harrogate, Leeds and Liverpool.

She said:

“This is great news for our industry. There are so many rogue injectors about who give the ones who work with care, precisions and adhere to guidelines a bad name.

“Hopefully the licence will standardise practice, not just for medical professionals, but also for non-medics.”

Dr Claire Seddon.

Both Ms Bennett and Dr Claire said one of the main issues was the aftercare of the patient and knowledge of how to treat them if there were any complications.

They have both had to correct treatments that have gone wrong, with problems mainly surrounding high-risk treatments such as dermal fillers.

‘We can deal with complications’

Nurse prescriber Ms Bennett, who has had to dissolve and administer antibiotics and steroids for botched fillers numerous times, said:

“When you have got someone lying here, we are not just injecting them. We are watching them and we can deal with anything that happens.

“I have seen someone who has had Botox around their eye, which has affected their smile. That’s because the practitioner came to low. Botox eventually wears off, so you just have to tell them to wait and it will come back.

“With filler you can actually block an artery if you go too deep. What happens then is it restricts the blood flow and the skin can die. You have to then inject something called Hyalase to dissolve the filler.

“If you are with the wrong person, it can make a massive difference.”

They said there are also issues surrounding the prescription of Botox, with rogue practitioners often buying cheap unknown products online from Korea or China.

And current rules mean an aesthetic practitioner does not need any mandatory qualifications, meaning anyone can go on a basic training course and then be allowed to perform the treatments.

This is also the case when it comes to where Botox and fillers are actually administered.

‘People deserve better’

Dr Claire, who has been practising aesthetics for seven years, said:

“People literally do it in sunbed shops.

“One girl who came to me went to someone who was doing it in their house. She got there and the person who was doing it was lying on the sofa in her dressing gown. She then took her into the kitchen where she was in the middle of cooking a meal and administered Botox. She didn’t even have gloves on. That’s what we are dealing with.

“Some beauty therapists treat it like they are doing someone’s make-up, but they are injecting into someone’s face. They don’t have the knowledge or the drugs to treat the patient if there are any complications.

“This will 100 per cent be a good thing for the industry. People deserve better.”

Forget nipping to the village shop for a pint of milk, you can now pop for a facelift at a new cosmetic surgery clinic near Bishop Thornton.

Nestled in the rolling hills of the Harrogate countryside, Kliniken, Swedish for “the clinic”, is aimed at moving away from a clinical hospital environment.

Instead it wants patients to feel like they have just checked into a luxury hotel, rather than a cold, sterile hospital environment.

I was intrigued when I heard about this new rural clinic, which boasts its own state-of-the-art operating theatre.

Firstly, due to its quirky location in the middle of nowhere, miles away – literally – from the typical urban setting, such as Leeds, Manchester or London’s  famous plastic surgery hub, Harley Street.

And secondly, when I heard two of the owners had sold their old house to fund the venture, as well as remortgaging their current home. In the current climate, this takes guts.

Hotel lobby

Consultant plastic surgeon Mallappa Kolar, who runs the practice with his wife, Karuna Kolar, and business partner Dr Senthil Kumar, said:

“The reception area has been designed with the thought process that we wanted it to feel professional and welcoming.

“We have tried to keep things discreet, so there is only ever two sets of patients who can be here at any one time. It is meant to feel more like a hotel lobby.

“When you walk in, the ladies greet you as a patient and you get a drinks menu to choose from.”

One of the receptionists who welcomes patients to Kliniken.

I’ve driven past Oakwood Park Business Centre, on Fountains Road, many times, but I had no idea here was a whole  business community there out in the sticks. With amazing views stretching for miles around, it really did feel calm and serene.

Different feel

When I walked in, it definitely had a different feel to the usual clinical environment you often get in a hospital or GP surgery. I was expecting someone to hand me a key and show me to my room.

Talking of rooms, it’s actually quite a big place, a bit like a tardis. It features two consultation rooms designed around patient comfort which boast flat screen TVs, reclining seats and shiny black desks to match the shiny black Apple Macs.

It is essentially as far removed from a typical cluttered GP’s room as it gets.

One of the consultation rooms at Kliniken.

There is also a therapy room, with colourful art on the walls, where you can pop in for some botox, fillers or laser treatments.

Mr Kolar said:

“This is designed to feel more like an experience. It is meant to feel comfortable, not cramped. If there is someone with you, they can sit down and have a drink.”

Split into two parts, the other area of the building is known as “the surgery hub”, which features two private recovery rooms.

Mr Kolar said:

“Patients will be greeted on the day of surgery by their own nurse, they will have their own patient care coordinator, their own surgeon and their own anesthetist. Those people are available throughout the entire patient journey.

“They will also get the receptionist’s number and the surgeon’s number.”

Hi-tech operating theatre

But perhaps most impressive is the high-tech operating theatre, which boasts fancy intelligent lighting and the best surgical equipment you can buy, according to Mr Kolar.

You would never expect to find a full working operating theatre just down the road from Fountains Abbey.

The operating theatre at Kliniken.

Mr Kolar, who is believed to be the only full-time plastic surgeon based in Harrogate, said:

“I didn’t want it to be in the city centre. You should see it in the winter when there is snow, it is literally picture postcard Yorkshire.

“We want it to be the equivalent to Harley Street, but here.”

” I have two brothers who both live in London and for them it’s inconceivable to see something like this.

“We have a son and I want him to appreciate the countryside and the clean air and the rehab and things like that. I feel if I want that for my family, I want that for my patients.”

The clinic has been six years in the planning and the trio have thrown everything they have into it.

Investment

Mr and Mrs Kolar sold their student house and have remortgaged their current property to fund the business venture. Mr Kolar also decided not to go for an NHS consultant job so he could concentrate fully on the clinic.

Dr Kumar, who met Mr Kolar three years ago when he was a registrar completing his training, has also invested heavily.

He flew back to England just a day after his wife gave birth in India as he had an important meeting with the Care Quality Commission.

Mr Kolar said:

It’s unusual to do what I’ve done, finish training and leave and set up a private practice. There are not many people who do that. A lot of people weren’t happy that I was doing that and a lot of people doubted us.

“You get so emotionally invested into this, you don’t have any spare time.  It sounds cheesy, but because you’re putting so much into this everything else is paled into insignificance.

“At the end of the day patients are trusting us with their body and it is a privilege.”

However, the determined trio are confident their goal of “redefining the healthcare experience” in natural surroundings will make the clinic a success.

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Innovation

Innovative treatments at the clinic include a “one-stop shop” for procedures such as hand surgery. This can be done in a day, rather than the patient having to keep coming back for consultations and the surgery itself.

Fat grafting is also available, which involves using a very thin needle to harvest cells from an area of your body. These cells are then injected into the area being enhanced.

Mr Kolar, who has done both an MD and PhD in fat stem cells in Sweden, said:

“There is probably only a handful of places in the country that would do it. So it’s using it for simple things like acne scars, volume rejuvenations, so a natural alternative to fillers. For example it can be used on the décolletage area for women. As we get older the creasing starts to increase, so we can rejuvenate that using fat. It can be used for all these different things.”

Together with their team of surgeons, they are now ready to go “full steam ahead” after being hit by a string of delays due to the pandemic.

Dr Kumar said:

I look at it as an opportunity to basically redefine the healthcare experience. I think we have pretty much nailed it on the head in this particular place.”

The view from Kliniken, which is based at Oakwood Park Business Centre, near Bishop Thornton.