A LOCAL businesswoman has transformed a run-down old newsagents into Walney's latest high-end beauty salon.

Donna McDonald, 33, opened Wit Woo beauty salon on Mill Lane at the weekend, with a day of public demonstrations on Sunday afternoon.

The salon begins its regular trade today and will be open from 9am to 5pm from Tuesday to Saturday, providing a range of different treatments including botox and semi-permanent makeup.

The owner explained: “Wit Woo is a unisex salon offering nail and beauty treatments as well as non-surgical things such as botox, lip fillers, skin pricking and semi-permanent eyebrows in one shop.

“It’s good to have a one-stop shop for people here and our appointment book is already bursting.

“I have a great client base and I’m quite popular in the area and the clients are really supportive and loyal and never miss an appointment, my main worry now is fitting in all the other new customers.”

The budding entrepreneur, who is also a part of the Furness Firecrackers roller derby team and has represented the country internationally, always knew she wanted to open her own business after working in Cumbria for years.

Six separate stylists will work from the boutique, including Ms McDonald who returned to college in order to gain more qualifications in beauty treatments.

She said: “I was working self-employed across south Cumbria and the Lake District doing people’s wedding makeup but slowly and surely, I noticed that people wanted more and more beauty options.

“I went back to college to study my level-3 NVQ and started working at a salon in Ulverston and working from home as well.

“My aim has always been to open my own salon and do it properly and it’s quite a special time to open a new business on this side of the island.”

She added: “I’ve got five girls working with me in the salon, three hair stylists who are Elizabeth Corbett, Michelle Andrews, Rebecca Maloney.

“Lindsay Gandy, who specialises in eyebrow treatments will be working in the salon as well as Natasha Hill who works on non-surgical treatment.

“And then there’s just me working on nails.”

The new salon has opened in the former Mill Lane Newsagents building, and Ms McDonald is hoping that the renovated shop will add to the regeneration of the area.

She said: “The shop is in what used to be a newsagents that closed over 10 years ago.

“It’s quite a special time for us really, we’ve entirely modernised the building to fit in with the rest of the area that is improving around us.

“I should mention that I wouldn’t have been able do this without the support of my partner, Mark Gaitskell, who’s been so helpful while we’ve been getting everything together.

“My two sons, Kian, 15, and Preston, eight, have been great over the six-week [school] holiday as well.”