Apex launches equal pay beauty scholarship

To help fill the therapist skills shortage, the Yu Spa at Apex Waterloo Place Hotel in Edinburgh has launched a beauty scholarship for the recruitment, hiring and training of new spa therapists.

The equal pay scholarship is being run in conjunction with the Edinburgh School of Beauty.

The innovative scholarship pays apprentices the same rate as Payroll spa employees, ensuring new trainees are remunerated well while completing their training – a welcome move considering the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

A blended course

A six-month scholarship, the course follows a similar format to the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme, with trainees working and earning for three days a week at Yu Spa, while completing their Level 2 & 3 Beauty Therapist qualification at the Edinburgh School of Beauty for the remaining two days.

Created to address an ongoing shortage of skilled therapists across Scotland, apprentices will be offered a full-time position at Yu Spa, Apex’s spa brand, at the end of the course.

Louise Caithness, managing director of the Edinburgh School of Beauty, said: “Our new partnership with the Apex hotel group is a unique opportunity, and one of the first in Scotland.”

Investing in students

Carys Potter from East Lothian is the scholarship’s first trainee apprentice.

She’s learning a range of beauty and massage skills at Apex Waterloo Place, working alongside the hotel’s Yu Spa team.

Potter has so far undertaken a range of courses including manicures, spa hosting and attending an Elemis retail event.

At the end of the scholarship, Potter will have a full-time position within the Yu Spa team, the first in a long line of Apex Spa Therapists.

Fiona Young, head of spa at Apex Hotels, said: “This is a great opportunity to invest in a student, give them the foundation of what it takes to be a great therapist and support their learning onsite with lots of willing models in a luxury spa environment.