A HAMPSHIRE college hosted a major event for the beauty therapy industry.

Eastleigh College welcomed the two-day WorldSkills UK south-east regional heat for the beauty therapy and related sector competitions.

The college facilitated the event with salons, registration zones, competitors’ and judges’ rooms, PC and Internet access, changing rooms, refreshment and presentation areas, as well as staff support to contestants from across the region.

WorldSkills UK aims to encourage young people and adults to aspire to go as far as possible in their chosen profession, testing their skills to the highest level.

The competition takes place in regional heats before going to national finals, which will be held at The Skills Show at the NEC in Birmingham in November, where the competitors will be hoping to win gold, silver or bronze in front of an audience of over 75,000.

Chief executive at Eastleigh College, Tony Lau-Walker, said: “Eastleigh College is delighted to have hosted the heat and we have enjoyed welcoming students in from all over the south-east region.

“It’s a great opportunity to test yourself under pressure and see how well you can perform. Hopefully we will have some winners from our area taking the top spots in the final.”