Scratch Stars 2020: Judging days & party postponed until spring/summer 2021
By Helena Biggs | 13 July 2020 | Events, News
After much consideration and assessment, Scratch magazine has decided to postpone the Scratch Stars Awards judging days and Scratch Stars Party until spring/summer 2021.
The format and all finalists, sponsors and judges remain the same; it is just the dates that are being postponed.
The coronavirus pandemic and later-than-anticipated reopening of nail and beauty businesses has presented a number of challenges and restrictions that have led to our decision to postpone. This decision has not been made lightly and numerous factors have been considered, with the health, safety and happiness of those involved our primary concern.
The Scratch Stars Awards launched to recognise amazing talent in the UK nail sector and celebrate such talent with a fantastic party that also affords the opportunity to network.
“As organisers, we pride ourselves on a fair judging platform and the overall integrity of our event,” comments Helena Biggs, Scratch‘s managing editor & event director of the Scratch Stars Awards. “We reviewed an online judging event yet a number of factors and issues did not meet our required standards for a fair awards process.
“We host our judging days at The London College of Beauty Therapy which has always accommodated our needs expertly, however working guidelines in the face of the pandemic have presented a number of practical challenges that are difficult to accommodate. In addition, part of our judging process for some categories involves social media and booking reviews as well as mystery visits, which have not been feasible or fair to assess in recent months. The impact of the pandemic on businesses has meant that reviewing such content during this time will not truly reflect the day-to-day function of such businesses, and so we wish to allow time for techs to return to work and regular business practice before their category is judged.
“We also recognise that, after four months out of work, those involved may understandably wish to focus on their clients and business and we don’t want to add to any stress, health & safety or travel concerns by proceeding with the judging days in London 10-11 August.”
“In addition, there is no word yet from government about the expected reopening of events venues, and so the likelihood of being able to host the infamous Scratch Stars Party on 6 September is called into question. Even if the venue is open by this date, restrictions on movement and offerings inside the venue mean that we couldn’t execute the event in our usual fashion – and we believe that the industry deserves the ultimate party following such a challenging period, so we wish to postpone until it is safe to do so.”
The dates for the judging days and Scratch Stars Party will be confirmed later in the year. Those that have purchased tickets for the Scratch Stars Party can either choose to hold onto their ticket purchase (which will be valid for the new party date TBA) or request a refund by emailing scratchstars@scratchmagazine.co.uk.
“We hope you understand the reasons for the event postponement and why we had to wait until further clarity was given by government in order to make our decision,” Helena continues. “All finalists and sponsors have been emailed with further details.
“We look forward to recognising your talent and keeping in touch until we can host the ultimate UK nail industry awards in spring/summer 2021.”