From a single salon in Darlington to a franchise of 100, Saks celebrates its 30th birthday this year. Christen Pears goes behind the scenes at its famous training academy.

IT reminds me of a practical science lesson. The stylists have listened to the theory, now they're putting it into practice. There's an air of quiet concentration around the room as they get to work, washing, colouring and cutting hair. The tutors walk the floor, casting a critical eye and ready to offer advice.

This is Saks' Darlington Academy, one of the company's two training and education centres, the other being in London. Hair stylists and beauty therapists from across the country come here to learn Saks' methods and techniques.

Today, the stylists are learning how to create the new hair collection, Contrasts, which includes both sexy crops and long, tousled locks, all shot through with bold colour. Every Saks stylist has to go through the training, trying out the latest cuts and colours on models.

Models are apparently quite difficult to come by. Some assume they need to be Kate Moss lookalikes, others are worried they will be at the mercy of rookie stylists. In fact, all of the stylists are experienced and anyone can be a model, as long as they're willing to have the latest cuts and colours.

The new styles are developed each year by the Art Team, the company's elite stylists, led by creative director Andrew Barton. The team is in great demand, travelling across the globe to offer their expertise. They've just returned from a trip to Budapest and future plans include Mexico and Australia.

Lynne Hodgkinson has been with Saks for more than 20 years. She owns the South Shields franchise and is a member of the Art Team. Creating a new collection, she says, is a lengthy process, which begins in May. Each of the team's ten members collect ideas in the form of photographs and cuttings. They may be inspired by fashion, a visit to a museum, the colour of the trees or flowers. The group then gets together and has a brainstorming session, creating storyboards and developing styles. After various experiments in cutting and colour, they're finally revealed to the rest of the company at the annual conference in January.

"It's a lot of hard work but it's wonderful to see it through from the early stages," says Lynne before disappearing to help one of the stylists with her cutting.

Saks was founded in Darlington in 1974 and has grown from just one salon to a national group of 100 hair and beauty salons across the country.

"When Saks opened all those years ago in Darlington it really was a phenomenon," says managing director Stephen Kee. "Saks was the first to move away from traditional shampoo and setting to the new cut and blow dry as we now know it. Clients flocked in."

Franchising took off in 1981 and what started as a North-East company spread to locations as far afield as Belfast, Aberdeen and Brighton, expanding to the beauty sector in 1995.

But no matter which salon you visit, you will be assured the same high standard of service. Every hair stylist or beauty therapist who joins Saks undergoes an intensive three-week course at the academies, where they learn all the company's techniques. Saks has a number of signature styles and treatments. Simply Saks is the core collection of hair styles, while beauty services include Saks Sensory Heaven launched in 1998 and the Remedial Massage, launched last year.

The massage, which uses unique deep tissue techniques, was developed by Kirsty Jobson while working in the Darlington salon. She developed a taste for education while teaching the massage to other therapists and is now the company's beauty development co-ordinator.

She says: "The academies are central to what we do. Everyone has to start off here learning all our techniques and we introduce them to new treatments. We also encourage them to come back regularly for refreshers. It makes sure they're not picking up any bad habits and gives them a confidence boost."

The academies really came to the fore in the 1990s as centres of excellence both for Saks employees and those outside the company keen to benefit from its expertise. As well as training in hairdressing and health and beauty, they offer courses in a range of disciplines including management, sales, customer care. It provides a strong foundation for a business that is still expanding, opening salons and academies in China this year, with Europe and the Middle East not far behind.

Stephen says: "What started as a single salon is now a global concern. We've always stuck to our core values of style and excellence, wrapped up in superlative customer care. I'd say those values carry merit the world over."