Expanding spa business secures sixfigure boost

● Company taking share of £12m fund providing loan finance for SMES

0 Woodhouse hailed the new capital, ‘especially when it’s hard to get other investment funding’ An Edinburgh-founded spa and beauty firm has netted a six-figure funding boost as it expands its network across the UK and mulls overseas expansion.

Pure Spa & Beauty, which started out with a branch on Edinburgh’s Lothian Road in 2002, last week announced the opening of four branches – one in Scotland and three south of the Border.

It has now agreed loan finance of £100,000 to support its expansion plans, taking a share of a £12 million fund made available as part of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Growth Scheme, partly funded by the EU.

Pure chief executive and founder Becky Woodhouse told The Scotsman that the initiative is “welcome” and positive for the business,

CEO BECKY WOODHOUSE “especially when it’s hard to get other investment funding”.

She added that headcount will grow to about 170 with the recently announced new branches – Peterborough, Hamilton in South Lanarkshire (opening 3 May), Purley located south of London, and Cheadle in Cheshire – via a tie-up with David Lloyd Leisure Clubs. They bring the total number of Pure Spa locations to 13 across the UK, also encompassingglasgow,aberdeen and London (in the City and Canary Wharf).

Pure has “quite a number of opportunities,” she added. “It’s just a case of working out how our model can fit into a place. Ultimately the mediumterm aim is to get to about 30 [branches] in the UK.”

The firm had last year announced plans to launch its first crowdfunding campaign in a bid to raise upwards of £150,000 to open new outlets across the UK – but instead favoured the Scottish Growth Scheme route.

Pure had been eyeing Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle and Liverpool – and Woodhouse said the business is looking at another site in London amid a measured expansion strategy.

Sales hit £3.4 million last year, and “hopefully we’ll get to about £5m this year”, while moving abroad is a possibility.

She is also looking to expand the business’ own product range, having also launched the Pure Beauty Zone marketplace in 2018. “The plan is for by the end of the year to have a full range of completely natural beauty treatments.”

“[We have] quite a number of opportunities … the medium-term aim istogettoabout30 [branches] in the UK”