Lanarkshire Couple buy Hamilton’s Rita Rusk salon from liquidator

Feb 11 2010 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

A LANARKSHIRE couple have bought one of the most famous names in hairdressing.

Yvonne and Jim Thomson have snapped up Rita Rusk’s Hamilton salon and bought one of her company’s names: Rita Rusk International.

They bought the assets from an interim liquidator appointed after parts of Mrs Rusk’s hairdressing empire plunged into financial difficulties.

Mum-of-two boys Mrs Thomson said they would continue to trade under the Rusk name and have 12 staff.

Mrs Thomson, who has worked as both a hairdresser and hairdressing teacher, said: “We have bought both the salon in Bothwell Road and the name Rita Rusk International.

“We have got massive plans for the business.

“We have already taken on three new staff and it is possible that number could rise to five.

“This is a two-storey salon and we aim to use the upper floor as beauty clinic, which will open at the end of the month, offering a range of treatments some of which the United Kingdom have not seen before.”

She added: “It has been a very difficult time for the staff who were wondering whether they would come into work one morning and find they were out of a job.

“Now they are excited and our clients have mentioned the change of atmosphere.”

Mrs Thomson, who is 44 and lives with her family in Allanton, is from Wishaw and a former pupil of Coltness High.

She trained as a hairdresser with Ian Weir and managed his salons in Motherwell and Hamilton.

She left there to work with Clynol hair products, becoming their colour technician for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mrs Thomson returned to Ian Weir’s company, managing his Motherwell salon, before obtaining teaching qualifications and tutoring in West Lothian College.

She worked as a trainer and colour consultant in Uddingston salon Ahead of Time.

Her husband sold a company two years ago and were looking to invest in the beauty business when the opportunity to buy the Rusk salon came up.

She added: “We have bought the company name and that will keep the Rita Rusk legend going in Hamilton.

“It has been here so long that people expect to see a Rusk salon in this area.

“We are hoping to maintain standards, quality of service and styles that people came to expect.”