Two schools friends are hoping they can bank on the support of Sandwich people to ensure their new beauty salon business is a success.

Beth Lennon, 21, and Yasmin Rubins, 22, have been friends for 11 years after meeting at their secondary school, Walmer Science College.

They have now gone into partnership opening No3 Beauty at the former Barclays bank in Cattle Market, Sandwich.

Beth said: “We’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time and then one day we decided to get looking at premises.

“We started by looking in Sandwich and we found this.

“It was only our second ever viewing but we were sold.”

Miss Rubins, of Woodstock Road, Deal, has been a qualified beautician for four years. She attended Canterbury College before undertaking an apprenticeship at Elite Beauty and Spa in Freemens Way, Deal.

Miss Lennon, of Davis Avenue, Deal, has been attending one-to-one training for six months at Star Beauty in Dover and is continuing to build up her skills. The pair have transformed the building into a main salon with two therapy rooms, and a massage room with a mauve and lilac colour scheme.

Although the work has involved inserting walls, the women have been keen to keep some of the building’s old features, such as the exposed beams.

They have even recycled the former bank counter, made of carved wood, into a reception desk.

Miss Lennon said: “Lots of people have commented on it and said they like it.”

Together, the pair are offering a whole list of services and special offers.

The salon officially opened in August. They are already starting to build up a strong client base but are inviting people to try them out.

Miss Lennon said: “It’s going really well. But we’d like to invite more people, especially from Sandwich, to come in and see how different it looks to before.”

Special thanks has been given to their families, particularly Ivan and Alison Rubins and Leigh and Anne Lennon, for their support.

For more details, pop into the shop or like No3 Beauty on Facebook.