A man who grew up above his mum's hairdressing salon which he later took over and ran himself is now passing on his expertise to young stylists.

Derry Moody (23), has joined Uxbridge College as Section Manager in Hairdressing - after previously qualifying there in both hairdressing and teaching.

Until he was four Derry lived in Coldharbour Lane, Hayes, then moved with his family to a flat above Shampoo Hair Studio in Wood End Gardens, Northolt, which his mother Penny ran.

After qualifying at NVQ Levels 2 and 3 in hairdressing, and training under several top names, he took over the family salon in 2002, transforming it into efex Hair Design.

After setting up efex he worked part-time at Uxbridge College's Hayes Community Campus, teaching in its professional-level training salons, eventually shutting his business to work full-time as a lecturer.

Derry said: "I was surrounded by the industry from a young age so I suppose it is not surprising I went into it.

"The education I had here inspired me to come back. I felt I'd done a lot in my career and I wanted to share that. Some of the students find it really inspiring that I used to be a student here myself."

Derry has been working in hairdressing since he was 13 years old, when he was a Saturday assistant working in his mother's salon.

He has also worked at Toni and Guy in Harrow, did work experience at Charles Worthington in London while he was studying for his NVQ Level 2, and worked at Kevin Joseph in Hayes.

He said: "We're training the next generation of professionals here at Uxbridge College. I got my training from good people and I have got high standards because I was trained to a high standard.

"As a department we have got highly trained staff with tons of industry experience, and our facilities are absolutely amazing. Our excellent success rates reflect both these things."

Derry is also a State Registered Hairdresser who has achieved Master Craftsman Status, a trained nail technician, and has also worked training beauticians to use salon products.

Jo Kearvell, Head of Hairdressing at the College, said: "It is so nice to see our students achieving - and even better so see someone who has done as well as Derry come back to teach. I used to teach him and it was clear right from the start that he was going to do well. I have no doubt his expertise will help many of our students go on to great things."