The Leather Repair Company’s training summit has helped people across the world to reach professional success
Andy and Isobel Duff at Studio 16(Image: Ascough Associates)
A talented woman who switches between beauty work and automotive body work in a varied career has praised the Hull company which helped her win a major international award. Isobel Duff has scooped the newcomer of the year at the International Detailing Association (IDA) annual awards in Florida, and puts the success down to the Leather Repair Company in Hull.
The beautician, with a background in “rock and roll jobs” including music retail and alternative fashion, runs her own salon and she also works in Andy’s Studio 16 – her husband’s auto shop. She joined the firm essentially to help save it, when a bout of illness almost led Andy to closing up for good.
And it was a training summit at the Leather Repair Company in Hull which proved to be the deciding factor in aiding the business. Andy had been working in detailing for more than 30 years before he attended the Leather Repair Company’s first summit, which brought together participants from the US, the Netherlands, UK and Portugal.
The event explored skills around products and processes, sanding and polishing and use of power tools on cars and motorbikes, with a focus on the booming market in the US market. A key element was a session on mental health to support delegates who often work in isolation, and Isobel said that was crucial for Andy, who says she had to push him to take part in the summit when impostor syndrome kicked in.
The tuition she then received from Andy and the transformation he experienced during that training summit is now triggering personal and professional success. As well as Isobel’s win at the IDA awards – a ceremony dominated by American entries – the Leather Repair Company itself was shortlisted, as well as summit graduate Matt Eager from Yorkshire.
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Richard Hutchins, who founded the Leather Repair Company with his wife Carolynne in 2007, said: “When Isobel heard she’d been nominated for the award she didn’t think much of it at first because she’s from a sector where beauty brands are always giving out prizes to promote themselves. But detailing is a global sector and is massive in the USA.
“Of the eight awards, six went to American individuals and businesses and two to the UK – including one for Isobel. That’s an incredible achievement in a predominantly male environment, and it’s also significant that we were shortlisted as well as Matt Eager.”
Now Isobel, who spends two days a week in her own salon and two at Studio 16 in Ayr, where she specialises in PPF (paint protection film) for motorbikes and also works on cars, said the couple will share their expertise with other operators when they host the next Leather Repair Company summit, endorsed by the IDA, at their studio in June this year.
She said: “I came in initially to help Andy through a bout of illness because he was thinking of closing the business. I discovered I’m good at it and I decided I could make quite a good living from it. There are a lot of transferrable skills between beauty and detailing. You have to problem solve, be artistic – and meticulous.
“When I first met Andy his business was thriving but I didn’t know about the crisis of confidence he was going through. He came back from the summit transformed.”
Andy said: “I had the experience from the summit in Hull and I deliver a lot of training anyway so I brought Isobel in and trained her up from scratch. She’s a super quick learner.”
Carolynne of the Leather Repair Company added: “The reason we started the summits was to promote detailing in the UK and it’s great to see everything falling into place. The summit in Ayr will be our seventh and will be groundbreaking because there are not many detailing events in Scotland or the north of England. People are booking already from across the UK and internationally.”
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