Business owner bucks trend of shops closing in Wick and will employ 20 staff

After a spate of shop closures over the last couple of years in Wick town centre, one local entrepreneur is confident enough to buck that trend with her new beauty shop and other business plans that will see 20 local people employed.

Teddy Hunt had a special open day event with drinks and snacks last Saturday afternoon for her new venture in the town's High Street called Northern Lights Aesthetics (NLA).

"I moved here about three years ago and brought the whole family up just before Covid," she said.

Teddy moved up from Yorkshire and said she had previously opened a gym in Sheffield, as well as running a recruitment agency and an events management company. "I sold everything off and moved up here. I've also got a goat dairy, making ice cream and fudge, and I'm opening a cocktail bar next to the Camps [Bar] as well."

Teddy says that she also has a background as an estate agent which has made her "passionate about filling all of the empty shops on High Street" and getting more people into Wick to breathe life into the town. "Given the specialism of the work I've done before, I will be able to make it work," she said with confidence at the open day event. Many visitors poured in through the doors after the official opening of NLA at 2pm to learn a bit more about the new face on the high street.

Teddy says NLA will be a one-stop shop for everything beauty, focusing on high standards of hygiene and treatments with specialist products for skincare. "We’re a team of six experienced staff and I’ve just taken on two local work experience girls as well. I’m also still seeking a hair stylist to join the team.

"We offer traditional beauty treatments such as waxing, nails, lashes, massage and brow treatments. We also offer sports massage for injuries, acupuncture, aesthetic injectables, and Great Lengths bonded hair extensions. We also provide makeup, semi-permanent makeup and piercings. Early in 2023 we’ll be adding laser hair removal, tattoo removal, and non-surgical butt lift to our portfolio."

Resident makeup artist at NLA, Ellie Robinson, specialises in fashion and bridal makeup. "People can also come to me at the weekend if they want to go out and feel fabulous," she Ellie. There is also a semi-permanent makeup artist and a "guest piercer" who is one of only two piercers in Scotland registered with the UK Association of Professional Piercers.

At the open day, two local businesses helped out – one had a table with Caithness-made jewellery (A Bit O Bling) and the other, which provided refreshments, is another new venture by Teddy called Valhalla Bar and Eatery which will open at 134 High Street next month.

Teddy had some thoughts about how new shops opening in the town centre could be given a helping hand to make them a success. "If landlords were more lenient with the terms of the rental agreement and the leases I think there would be more businesses on the high street succeeding. You need help in the early stages. Creating more local jobs means people can stay in Wick instead of having to move away to look for work."

With the beauty shop up and running, a new cocktail bar set to open on December 14, a goat farm operating, and 20 local staff being employed, Teddy looks firmly set to be a key business figure in the county.

More information on Northern Lights Aesthetics and Valhalla Bar and Eatery can be found on their Facebook pages.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.