BUSINESS is booming for a beautician who has brought her mother on board.

Amy Vella, 21, has opened imago in Derby Drive, on the Moorside estate, near Consett.

From her base above Hair Waves hairdressing salon, she offers beauty treatments while her mother, Pauline Thompson, provides a range of holistic therapies.

"Imago is the last stage before a caterpillar becomes a butterfly," she said. "That is how we think of our clients - they come in as caterpillars and go out as butterflies."

Miss Vella, who lives with her mother in Crookhall, near Consett, set up the business in August, after a stint in Malta as the manager of the beauty spa in a five-star hotel.

She studied beauty therapy at Derwentside College in 2002 and offers treatments such as facials and manicures.

Mrs Thompson started out at the college doing a taster course as a Christmas present. She carried her studies on at the campus and has since gained qualifications in areas such as Swedish massage, Reiki and vertical reflexology.

"Opening my own salon was always something I wanted to do," said Miss Vella.

"I was going to do it on my own, but my mother suggested we should be partners.

"At first, we thought we would argue, like mothers and daughters do. But I think we get on now better than ever."

To contact imago, telephone (01207) 588970.