Ink Kingz Tattoo and Piercing Studio
Ink Kingz Tattoo and Piercing Studio, Oxford Place, Leeds
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I'm James Williams and I'm the owner of Inkings Tattoo Studio.
00:04 I am a full licensed tattoo artist and I run an apprenticeship programme for other young
00:11 adults to get into tattooing, piercing and laser removal.
00:15 And you've just opened a new salon in Leeds?
00:17 Yep, so this is our newest studio which is in Leeds City Centre.
00:21 We also have one in Pontefract and one in Wakefield.
00:25 Just tell us a bit about this apprenticeship programme.
00:27 So this apprenticeship programme is a free programme, the only place in England that
00:32 you can come and get paid for an apprenticeship scheme.
00:36 Where other studios charge you to become a tattoo artist, we give you everything you
00:40 need for free and it's just something I'm trying to get, I'm going to say, authorised
00:48 by the government but it's taking a little bit longer than I expected.
00:51 Just tell us a bit about what you offer here.
00:54 So here we have tattooing, piercing and laser removal.
00:59 We also do cosmetic make-up and we will be doing the training programmes here for young
01:07 adults to start their apprenticeships with us.
01:11 And is it Ria who's one of the apprenticeships?
01:13 Yes, so we've got Ria who's about three months in.
01:16 She's already qualified in piercing, she's already qualified in nano-blading and she's
01:25 now on to her tattooing side.
01:28 My name's Ria Makin, I'm the piercer at Inking's Tattoo Leeds and I do micro-blading, nano-blading
01:34 and I'm an apprentice tattooist.
01:37 So today this is a consultation?
01:38 So today we're doing a consultation for a piercing, deciding what you want it, then
01:43 we fill in the forms, make sure everything's okay and then we can get going.
01:47 How long have you been doing this?
01:48 I've been doing it since June now.
01:53 So what made you want to do this, to be a tattooist?
01:56 So my sister's been here for a year, so obviously now she's the manager at the Leeds studio,
02:02 she's brought me with her just to get going and obviously it's good to work in town.
02:08 And do you feel nervous when you're working on people or is it just something you get
02:11 used to?
02:12 Yeah, I think it's something you get used to obviously once you start chatting and obviously
02:16 we have a heat of customers so it's nice to have a chat with them, see how the day's been
02:19 and get going.
02:20 And what would the procedure to do with a piercing, how would you go about, what would
02:25 you do?
02:26 So first of all we obviously do the consultation form and then we make sure the area's clean,
02:32 use sanitation, make sure the customer's happy with where the piercing's going and then we
02:37 can get the piercing done.
02:39 Afterwards we make sure it's all cleaned up, give them the after care sheet so they
02:42 know what they're doing with the piercing and then obviously just letting them know
02:45 if there's any problems they're always free to be able to come back and I can have a look
02:49 at it for them.
02:50 And as an apprentice, how long would you be an apprentice for here?
02:53 So for tattooing it's a two years apprenticeship, they don't actually do that at the moment
02:59 but James is working alongside the government to make that an official thing for an apprentice.