Our Salon Director, Penny Kimpton, has many years experience and training in the beauty industry, but she also had a wide and varied career before establishing Sparx in 2012.
Originally from Wokingham, Penny initially qualified in Electronic Engineering, going on to work for GEC Plessey Semiconductors. Following this she retrained, taking an HNC in Business and Marketing before working as a Marketer for Innovision Technology. She particularly loved this role as it involved playing with toys most of the day! In total Penny worked in the electronics industry for nearly 15 years, travelling the world on business trips to America, Germany and Australia.
Following the arrival of her two children, Penny wanted a job that allowed her to spend more time with them, so she went back to college to study Beauty. Part of her decision was based on the fact she thought it would be easy – but she soon found out just how WRONG she was about that! With Anatomy and Physiology featuring heavily in the curriculum, the course was more taxing than she had ever imagined.
After completing her beauty training, Penny combined this with her knowledge of electronics and opened a small salon in 2006 offering Lynton Laser treatments. She was one of the first people in the UK to be trained in laser treatments for the beauty industry, for which she initially needed to be registered with the HCC (now the CQC – Care Quality Commission). During this time she continued her studies and obtained an AET Advance Level 3 qualification in Training.
After the success of her laser business, Penny decided to expand and set up Sparx in 2012 with Mary at her side. Their hard work has paid off and 2019 has seen Sparx selected as a finalist for Best Independent Beauty Salon in the prestigious NHF/NBF Hair & Beauty Business Awards. In February 2020, Penny was awarded a prestigious CPD accreditation for her outstanding training practices. Thanks to Penny, you can ensure that you are only treated by the best every time you visit Sparx!
Outside of work, Penny lives with her family, two dogs and a cat. She says that if she could have any celebrity walk into the salon, it would have to be Stephen Fry because he’s so fascinating!
