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30 Things For 30 Years with RRI

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Rainbow Room International
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Rainbow Room International Royal Exchange Square is proud to be celebrating 30 years in business!

The Royal Exchange Square salon was the second salon to open within the salon group, which is the largest salon group in Scotland, and since opening in 1993 has gone from strength to strength, opening a beauty room, growing some of Scotland’s hottest hairdressing talent, winning awards and much more.

Below, we share with you 30 things about Rainbow Room International Royal Exchange Square that you may not have known, including some of the salon's pivotal moments and highlights...

  1. David Nicolson, the Director of the salon, has been with the company since 1987 before opening the Royal Exchange Square salon in 1993.
  2. The Rainbow Room International Academy opened in 1993 in Royal Exchange Square. Now the Academy is based on Howard Street, which opened 13 years ago when the salon outgrew the Royal Exchange Square premises.
  3. The Royal Exchange Square salon was the base for the Rainbow Room International FAME Academy – the finishing school for the company’s elite hairstylists and colour experts. After completing full training, RRI Stylists would progress to the FAME Academy where they could perfect their craft and create on-trend inspiring looks to Glasgow’s ‘cool kids’. The FAME Academy has seen some of Scotland’s top hairstylists pass through its doors during its 18-year residency in Royal Exchange Square whereby the team offered expert cutting, colouring, and styling skills for less, with fashion inspired inspiration and technical excellence.
  4. When the salon first opened, the team had to bring in furniture through the windows as it couldn’t fit through the doors!
  5. In the early years of the salon, a wall was pulled down, which nearly resulted in the whole building collapsing! Luckily this didn’t happen and since, the salon has changed and been updated a lot.
  6. Some of Scotland’s very best hairdressing talent has been trained within the Royal Exchange Square salon!
  7. Great Western Road Salon Director’s John and Jo Parker worked within the Royal Exchange salon in their early years at Rainbow Room International and now are returning to the salon!
  8. Julie-Anne, Owner of the Crow Road salon, also started at the Royal Exchange Square salon as a Saturday girl!
  9. Director of the Ayr salon, Riccardo Corvi was previously a client of the Royal Exchange Square salon. He regularly had his hair cut by Salon Owner, David, and this was how he was introduced to the Rainbow Room International brand!
  10. The team at Royal Exchange are all homegrown. They all started as apprentices and have worked their way up the ladder.
  11. Many of the team have worked at the salon for 20 years.
  12. The Rainbow Room International Royal Exchange Square salon is the only salon within the group that provides beauty services.
  13. The Royal Exchange square salon is situated in the centre of Glasgow in one of Glasgow’s most iconic and historic squares – Royal Exchange. It was officially opened in 1571 by Queen Elizabeth 1st!
  14. The salon is a 6,500ft Victorian, grade 2 listed building.
  15. The Royal Exchange Square salon is an iconic salon in Glasgow and the architecture brings many of the public to the square and into the salon.
  16. The Royal Exchange Square salon not only offers beauty treatments including nails, brows, tanning and makeup, but it also has ‘Beauty Spa’ that offers massage, waxing and microblading.
  17. The Royal Exchange Square salon also has a float room with Flotation Tank. This was Glasgow’s first Day Spa and Floatarium.
  18. The Royal Exchange Square salon was one of the first, alongside the Rainbow Room International Buchanan Street salon, to provide Shiatsu massage in Glasgow. Since, many salons in the area and beyond have started to provide this treatment to their clients.
  19. For many years the Rainbow Room International Royal Exchange Square salon has recorded a Christmas Single. This was available for clients to buy via cd/download, with all proceeds going to charities including The Teenage Cancer Trust and HABB (Hair and Beauty Benevolent)
  20. Some of the Royal Exchange Square team previously appeared on TV’s STV2 Live at Five to perform one of the salons Christmas singles live!
  21. The salon has raised £27000 for charity with Christmas songs alone.
  22. Over the years, the Rainbow Room International Royal Exchange Square salon has been the destination for many of the Rainbow Room Events – from client styling evenings to vintage inspired fashion shows, allowing clients to visit the salon out with salon opening hours to socialise with the team and friends and have fun.
  23. At the Rainbow Room International Annual Congress, the Royal Exchange Square salon has won a great number of awards. This year, many of the team were awarded Self Improvement Awards and Beauty Team Member, Sarah McFarlane, won a Gold Commendation Award.
  24. The Royal Exchange Square salon is the first salon in Rainbow Room International group to have the whole team hit yearly bonuses at Congress.
  25. One of the biggest accolades the Royal Exchange Square salon has won was Salon of the Year at the British Hairdressing Business Awards.
  26. David, alongside Royal Exchange Team Members, have been stylists for the stars year on year at Scotland’s music festival – TRNSMT and previously T In The Park.
  27. The Royal Exchange Square salon had an incredible refit in 2018 and features a sleek and contemporary design, with a colour station located in the middle of the salon, a separate wash area and a bold, bright, and inviting colour scheme used throughout.
  28. Today the Royal Exchange Square Salon is showing it is ever evolving and embracing the digital world! Team members are in control of their own columns through apps on their phone.
  29. The team are now offering clients Zoom Consultations to become more digital.
  30. Salon Director, David, has also launched the very first Rainbow Room International Young Art Team, whereby David, along with the help of Artistic Director, Suzie Mc Gill, will train a number of youngsters within the group, showing them the artistic/creative side of the company and allowing them to grow and push their creative boundaries.