A WELL-KNOWN beauty therapy teacher who helped guide TV stars Amy Childs and Jade Goody on the road to success has lost her battle with cancer.

Jacqui Borley, who died on January 31, ran the Brentwood Academy of Health and Beauty, which she started with husband Phil in 1998.

The 50-year-old's informality and hands-on advice made the school that first operated in Ongar Road an immediate hit with students.

"She was very inspiring," Phil, 55, said.

"We have been inundated with messages from past students saying what an inspiration she and the teachers here are.

"She loved her job because she could change people's lives – at the end of their time here the students could leave with a qualification that was life changing.

"That's what she got out of it.

"She inspired people. She was a very warm person. And for the people who knew her that's what always came across.

"Those are the attributes you need to be successful in this business."

The pair, who lived in Hutton, met 27 years ago when they both worked in the City.

Jacqui first trained in beauty and massage treatment in Hong Kong, during Phil's two-year stint there as an international investment banker.

And after returning from the Far East and starting a family, the pair formed the business 15 years ago when Phil left his job in the capital.

Since then, about 5,000 students have graduated from the school, which Jacqui recognised could be different from the "impersonal" adult education colleges she studied at.

Among her pupils were Amy Childs from The Only Way Is Essex and the late Big Brother star Jade Goody, who Jacqui helped while she was setting up her own salon in Ugley.

Charlotte Nial, who graduated in 2004 and who started Cranwell House skin and beauty clinic in Ingatestone four years later, said the news was "devastating".

The 28-year-old said: "She was a very special lady. She became a very close friend.

"I came away from the academy very passionate because she was a very passionate person and that enthusiasm rubbed off.

"I always said that without her this business would have not been possible."

Under Jacqui's leadership, the academy, which now operates from Brentwood High Street, won a spate of national awards. These included the private college of the year between 2002 and 2005, the best training establishment in 2003, best training provider in 2007 and best training provider finalist in 2009.

Jacqui, who leaves children Charlotte, 25, and James, 23, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago.

Phil added: "Because of her interests in health and beauty she wanted to go down the holistic treatment road and was seeing a specialist in New York.

"She really fought it and the treatment helped extend her life. She was incredibly brave."

The funeral service takes place today, Wednesday, at Hutton and Shenfield Union Church, Roundwood Avenue, at 1.45pm.