WHEN Guy Awazi first started barbering he felt the need to hide the fact that this was his career – but now the barber shop he owns has been nominated for two prestigious accolades.

Guys in Drove Road was shortlisted by the English Hair & Beauty Awards in two categories – Men’s Stylist of The Year and Barber of The Year in the South West.

“From when I started to how it is now the barbering industry has grown tremendously, it’s massive,” explained Guy. "When I got into the game it was a job you did not want to do

“I couldn’t even tell people I was a barber because it wasn’t something that your parents would want you to do – no parents wanted their kids to do barbering but now look how popular it has become.”

The owner says barbering has now become a trend and he has had people studying at university and college contact him with an interest in pursuing the profession as a career path.

Guys is now four years old and has grown a sterling reputation for being one of the best places to get your hair cut in Swindon – with professional footballers and an England rugby international player going there for a trim.

The nominations have to come from the public and the owner didn’t know he had been shortlisted until he found out from a customer. He didn’t pay too much attention until the organisers of the awards contacted the shop.

Guy said: “It’s thanks to the customers and their loyalty of sticking with us that has helped us get to where we are today, everything we do is for them and this is why we do what we do.

“Our main focus is never to win awards and it is always about making the people who step into our shop look good.

“We are the artist, we are always creating every day and at this shop we never copy and only strive forward in being the creator.”

The barbers went through a transformation last year with a shop revamp and the team has now grown to seven since first launching.

Guy added: “Being nominated for these awards is always exciting and it’s a great look for the business, it’s also nice to see our work being appreciated on so many levels.”

The team travelled to Maidenhead for the award ceremony last night and were feeling confident of victory in one of the categories.