Two men will be running their fingers through the hair of some of the most beautiful women in the universe at next month’s Miss World contest, all in the name of work. Lucy Richardson meets the owners of Scarlet Moon salon in Middlesbrough whose careers are going stratospheric.

IT may not sound very relaxing to be only feet away from a replica shark’s head and a stuffed snake, but there’s something quirky and uplifting about what Martin Fox and Dean Bradwell call their “parlour”.

The Northern Echo: QUIRKY: The salon

The laidback duo, who have known each other for 20 years, may be striving to put style before profit, but they are also focused on sharpening up their scissors hands to help them become among the best in the business.

Martin has just been accepted on to the National Hairdressing Federation’s Barbers Elite Artistic Team and Dean is being flown all-expenses paid to Los Angeles to train at the Sexy Hair Institute of Courage, an educational retreat where participants are expected to learn as much about themselves as about hairdressing.

But their sights are currently set on joining the elite team of 25 stylists who will be tending to the locks of 122 Miss World contestants when the contest, now in its 61st year, rolls up in London for the finals at Earls Court on November 6.

THE controversial pageant, which has been disrupted over the years by feminist protestors, acted as a springboard for Wilnelia, wife of TV entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth, who won the competition as Miss Puerto Rico in 1975, and Hollywood actress Halle Berry who was Miss USA in 1986.

“It will be an amazing experience, we are definitely up for the challenge,”

says Martin. “We will be doing long, very soft styles, nothing very edgy. We’re not worried about what happens if any of them throws a diva tantrum, we won’t understand them because it’ll be in a different language.”

Martin, who travels the country teaching advanced barbering and clipperwork, opened the boutique salon, named after his daughter Scarlet, with his friend in 2008 on a quiet street lined with solicitors, a stone’s throw from Middlesbrough’s bustling Linthorpe Road.

It is filled with curios – “the more random, the better” – picked up on far-flung holidays which perfectly illustrate their creative personalities.

“We are very fortunate that we are in an artistic job that we love. We feel really privileged and we bounce off on each other,” says Dean.

“Our clients are from all age groups, men and women, the one thing they have in common is they want a really good haircut. We are not really sales-driven, we are much more relaxed about that.”

“There is something magical about giving someone a great cut, and their reaction when they see it. It’s like a ‘ta-da’ moment,” adds Martin. “We communicate all the time with our clients so it never gets to the point at the end that they do not like it.

“We are being given some fantastic opportunities and are really looking forward to working with different people, you never stop learning.”

Scarlet Moon, 17 Baker Street, Middlesbrough. To make an appointment call 01642-240877