promoting excellence in dog grooming
Welcome to the Golden Scissor Awards.
The Golden Scissor Awards was created by Melanie Winters-Holmes as an initiative to celebrate the milestones and achievements of competitive groomers and to recognise excellence within the industry.
Our main objectives are to provide groomers with opportunities to perfect and develop their grooming skills within the Open Class, to bring credibility to the title of “Champion”, and to create a fair and structured pathway that allows groomers to achieve recognised awards and accomplishments.
The Golden Scissor Awards was originally brought to life with the support of Charlotte Howard and Colin Taylor, whose contributions helped establish the foundations of the awards in their early stages.
As the Golden Scissor Awards has continued to grow and evolve, Katie Murrell joined the team, helping to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the awards programme, support the recognition process, and celebrate the achievements and successes of our winners throughout the grooming community.
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Unlock Your True Mastery Of Dog Grooming
Take the next step in your grooming journey through our awards system, designed to support growth, develop skills, and celebrate both personal and professional achievement.
Why Have We Created This Award?
For many years, groomers were required to move into Champion class just 12 months after achieving their first 1st place in Open class.
We felt this often meant competitors were moving up before they were truly ready to take that next step. As a result, many groomers stopped competing because they found it discouraging and felt they could not fairly compete against those who were already well established within Champion class.
By allowing groomers to achieve three Open class wins before progressing to Champion, we hope to provide them with a stronger foundation and a better opportunity to compete amongst the very best in competitive grooming.
Who Is It for?
Anyone entering an eligible Open or Champion class within the UK, Europe, or Ireland in the following categories:
Asian Style
Handstrip
Poodle
Purebreeds
Spaniels & Setters
Workshop
How Do I Achieve A GSA?
Golden Scissor certificates and pins are awarded at shows on the day and passed to the relevant show coordinator for distribution.
If you have not received a certificate or pin from a previous show, please collect it from the Colin Taylor Products stand.
What Others Are Saying…
Melanie Winters-Holmes caught up with Cheryl Howard at Crufts to talk about how important the GSAs are to UK dog grooming.
Hannah Bowles, Spaniels & Setters Supreme Champion, gives Charlotte Howard an insight of what the Golden Scissor Awards would mean to her when she started out grooming at competitions
Sponsors & Supporters
The Golden Scissor Awards is an impactful scheme, as it is run as a Non Profit organisation by passionate individuals and companies dedicated to the development and growth of the pet grooming industry. Without the generous contributions from our sponsors, who provide financial support, and our dedicated supporters, who selflessly donate their time, this event would not be possible. We encourage everyone to show their support for these valuable contributors by visiting their respective websites.
