The UK founders of Effortless Skin have relinquished their stake in Skin City, almost two years after the Swedish eCommerce group acquired the business as part of a European expansion plan.
Skincity acquired 75 percent of the English skin care online retailer Effortless Skin in August 2018 and following successful integration and rebranding, Skincity UK launched in February 2019. The departure of the founders marks the final step in the expansion, with Skincity now owning 100 per cent of the UK operation.
Original founders Stephen and Helen Elldred leave the Skincity UK operation in robust health, with 2019 sales topping GDP 4 million and the philosophy of professional consultations alongside best-in-class brands attracting thousands of new customers to the site.
Patrik Bråkenhielm, CFO at Skincity comments, “This acquisition is a natural step in our continued expansion. After the successful integration and rebranding and a development that has exceeded our expectations, the time felt right to take the next step.”
Sales in the UK continue to grow at record speed and Skincity’s CEO Stefan Fragner is looking forward to a bright future:
“Since we became the main owner of Effortless Skin, the growth rate for the UK-based business has increased significantly, much we believe thanks to the Skincity concept; This combination of e-commerce and professional skincare services is quite unique in the English market. The integration of the company into the organisation has worked extremely well and we see the UK as one of our largest markets in the coming years – in April 2020 sales increased by more than 100 percent compared to the same period last year.”
Stephen and Helen Elldred leave the company on good terms and look forward to more family time and new challenges:
“The journey of the UK business, from its origins as Effortless Skin to its continued rapid growth as Skincity UK, has been an incredibly exciting one. Helen and I leave the company in the strongest position it has ever been in, and we are both very excited to see how it grows in the future. From a personal perspective, after 10 years in the company we are looking forward to new challenges and spending time with the family”, comments Stephen Elldred.
