Beauty is big business. Even during recessions, lipsticks sell and nail polish bottles fly off shelves. As for skincare, once (back in the day) it was all about department store French brands but things couldn’t be more different now.
The UK beauty industry has never been as strong, and with The British Beauty Council now on its side the future of beauty on our home turf has never looked brighter.
I caught up with British Beauty Council’s CEO Millie Kendall MBE to ask her about its work – what’s in the pipeline, why we need it, and why every sector of our thriving British beauty industry deserves more recognition for its consistent, important contribution to the UK economy…
“The British Beauty Council represents the voices, opinions and needs of the British beauty industry”
Q: Millie, before we dive into things, it’s an absolute pleasure to have you on The Beauty Shortlist. I’ve been following @BritBeautyCouncil on Instagram almost from Day 1 and it’s been exciting watching it all unfold.
So, whose idea was it, and what was the first spark that led to the creation of the British Beauty Council?
MK: I don’t think it was any one person’s idea, in hindsight a lot of us wanted it and realised we needed it. I had been chatting with a group of industry buddies for years, literally years. It just takes someone to get up and do it.
Sometimes I think that might be the job of the stupidest person in the room or the bravest? But I did it with a couple of mates I have know for years and trusted and in a year since we officially launched we have done quite a lot to be proud of.
Q: The BBC states: “We are committed to developing excellence and growth in a sector that is a significant contributor to the British economy”. What sort of figures are we talking about for the British beauty industry?
MK: Wow where do I start? £27.2 billion in consumer spending across the sector, £28.4 billion contribution to GDP, £7bn in tax contribution. Your readers can download the Value Of Beauty report for free from http://bit.ly/ValueofBeautyReport, we made it open source so we can share the information clearly with the whole industry and the public.
“£27.2 billion in consumer spending across the sector, £28.4 billion contribution to GDP”
#BritishBeauty
Q: There are 3 important pillars to the British Beauty Council’s manifesto: Reputation, Education and Innovation.
Many would argue – and we are seeing this reflected to an extent in the entries coming in this month for The 2020 Beauty Shortlist Awards – that British Beauty brands have a stand-out reputation for originality and ahead of the curve innovation (much like British fashion).
Why do you think Britain does “innovation” so well?
That is a tough question, I think the beauty industry has a fair amount of innovation because firstly it is an easy to enter industry, we are cost effective, we are pretty accessible and inclusive and you can start a business in beauty quite simply. We are a country of innovators and that goes beyond beauty as you say, but a lot of industries are just harder to get into. We are quite democratic.
Q: With the climate crisis on everyone’s minds, do you think we’ll see a much bigger shift to “buying locally”, i.e. more of a focus on British brands at retailers and on the high street?
I think the consumer will make some demands on the brands and retailers to be more sustainable that is inevitable. We cannot continue as we are and look at the rise in consumer driven brands, how the consumer is changing the high street and how we shop for beauty…They will want to know where their product is coming from with a transparent supply chain. Perhaps this will create an increase in local brands, but in this respect we will need to support our British beauty manufacturers much more than we do now.
Albiva Wellness – Winner of British Beauty Council’s NEXT BRITISH BEAUTY BRAND
Q: After your successful London Beauty Week in Covent Garden recently, what’s next on the event agenda, and how can brands, journalists and consumers get involved?
Next on the agenda is a long sleep and hopefully a holiday.
London Beauty Week in Covent Garden last month #LBW
So we offer different levels of engagement to brands via our patron scheme and ideally we want support from everyone, so we do like to look at what the best is for each individual and brand. I would say that this is an opportunity for brands, press and beauty lovers to be in the driving seat and really determine how our industry is perceived, how we grow and what we stand for.
The more of us involved, the more dynamic we become. We are a small team of 3 in the office and we pulled off LBW with a lot of help from our patrons, particularly our co-host Covent Garden. We want to work in collaboration so get in touch and lets see what we can do together.
Q: Fast-forwarding 5-10 years, what does the future of British Beauty look like?
Hopefully we will be promoted to young people as a superior career choice and not an accidental one that you do if you can’t do anything else. We will have higher education courses in beauty tech, buying, merchandising, communications etc…So you will be able to get a degree in beauty.
We will understand what it is to be sustainable in business and with regards to our products, supply chain.
We will be innovators, thought leaders and be recognised as a force for good.
I want us to be where BFC is now in 3-5 years…”
Find out more at The British Beauty Council
Instagram | @BritBeautyCouncil