Scissor and Suds Pet Services is run by Melissa Waters. Mel grew up at Bayford Boarding Kennels and Cattery near Broxbourne which her parents successfully ran for over 45 years until they retired. Mel has been very lucky and from a young age she was surrounded by dogs and cats and a whole host of other animals her entire life. It made perfect sense to make a career out of her love for animals.
After too many years of working in Finance in central London Mel decided it was time for a change from long commutes and tedious desk work. She wanted to do something more fulfilling and see the rewards of honest labour. Her mum, Pat, was a professional groomer until she retired many years ago and her adopted nan was also a groomer so you could say she’s a third generation groomer.
Mel initially trained to be a groomer in 2010 with Angela Caley who is a winner of British Dog Groomer of the Year, EuroGroom Championship and many other titles all over the world. Angela has over 50 year’s experience of showing and grooming and in her hey day was without doubt one of the best groomers in the country. Angela now runs the International Certified Master Groomers Qualification for the UK and is at the forefront of assessing dog groomers in the UK and bringing qualifications to all groomers.
After the initial training, I opened a salon near Bayford and within a short amount of time the books were full. Ongoing training and attendance to seminars and workshops with the best groomers from the UK and Internationally has improved both her grooming and dog handling skills over the years. Mel has competed at grooming competitions alongside the best groomers in the country.