A QUARRY Bank man has launched his own business after making the bold decision to ditch his job in IT to pursue a career in the skin care industry.

Andy Millward's passion for skin care started 10 years ago, when he developed acne and began to show signs of premature ageing.

He began to research the skin and experiment with different products to treat his condition and later started a blog to provide advice and reviews.

But as his blog began to increase in popularity, so did his desire to have a more hands-on approach within the industry, so he left the support analyst job he had held for 11 years.

The 32-year-old trained to be a skin therapist and later went on to complete aesthetician and peel training with Medico Beauty of London.

Four months later, he opened a natural skin care shop in Birmingham, which he co-owned, but due to a breakdown in partnership the shop closed in April.

Undeterred he recently launched a mobile skin service, offering advanced skin treatments, facials and metabolic skin peels across the Black Country.

He said: "The skin care industry is booming. There are over 150 beauty salons in the Stourbridge and Dudley area alone, so there is definitely demand for beauty services.

"We are now seeing more specialised clinics opening up offering non-surgical treatments, however from speaking to people some find the clinical aspect a little bit intimidating - my service bridges the gap.

"I offer results based treatments but without sacrificing on the relaxation elements."

Mr Millward added: "The transition from IT to skin was actually really easy for me. Partly because I was so miserable, I fell into the job and never really knew what I wanted career wise.

"Although my passion was for skin care I’d never really considered I could make a living from it."