• 5 hours ago
TBS
Transcript
00:00Good day, Mike, and welcome to the UAE.
00:04It would be really nice to get a quick intro about yourself.
00:08Sure.
00:09Sure.
00:10I've spent over 30 years in the beauty industry, went through a journey of being a distributor
00:17for brands, then developing my own brands, and then acquiring brands.
00:23And since 1998 to 2008, I did 40 acquisitions from multinational companies like Unilever,
00:31Procter & Gamble, brands like Yardley of London, and effectively gave them a new lease of life,
00:39reinvigorated them, and many of those brands still continue successfully to sell around
00:44the world.
00:45So that's my background.
00:47Awesome.
00:49Thank you, Mike.
00:51So who are the Aurea Group?
00:54OK.
00:55Aurea is a new private equity group, which has been set up for two years.
01:01The aim and objective with Aurea was to set up a new age private equity group, which not
01:08only invested capital into companies, but actually brought in experience, operating
01:17experience, international networks, strategic partnerships that would help founders of new
01:24age brands to really scale up their brands.
01:30And what Aurea is investing in is brands that have strong founders, living or past, but
01:37with very strong values and highly efficacious and differentiated products and positioning
01:44that can partner with Aurea's capital and operational experience to really grow.
01:53So it's a growth capital platform in which the experience that we as Aurea bring really
02:01helps these founders and brands to grow exponentially.
02:04Lovely.
02:06Thank you very much.
02:09What does Aurea's acquisition mean for the body shop?
02:14Well, the body shop acquisition for Aurea is a very important and strategic acquisition.
02:22It means a great deal because it's once in a lifetime opportunity that you get a chance
02:28to acquire a brand that is truly global, that was a leader in ethical beauty, and that in
02:38two years' time will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
02:41So it is a brand with sales in 70 countries around the world, a really important ethical
02:49positioning, which is more relevant in today's world than it has ever been.
02:54It was a leader in its field.
02:56And for us, this is a great opportunity to once again make it a global leader.
03:01And it's a billion plus global brand at retail.
03:05One of the biggest British brands ever created.
03:08So that's really exciting for Aurea to partner with.
03:11So what does the transformation journey look like for the body shop?
03:17Transformation is the right word to use.
03:20We recognize that the brand has got a tremendous heritage, a tremendous relevance, but it needs
03:28to be transformed in the way it addresses the consumer's need for the future.
03:35That is going to mean product innovation, a very consumer-centric approach to innovation
03:43and product development, embracing global consumers, global ingredient stories, global
03:53sustainability impacts, and working very quickly to bring those to market.
04:01Because today's consumer is very demanding.
04:05And I think the transformation for body shop is to be able to become nimble and consumer-centric
04:10to address the needs of the consumer.
04:12So it's a consumer-first transformation, I would say.
04:16Totally agree.
04:19Why is the Middle East so important to the body shop?
04:22Look, the Middle East is very important.
04:25We have sales in over nine markets in the Middle East.
04:29Countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, today these are global markets as well, with consumers
04:37from all around the world.
04:39When I visit the UAE, I look at Dubai Mall or the Mall of the Emirates or Emirates Hills.
04:46You see such an international consumer there.
04:49So one, they're growing markets.
04:52There's a young population.
04:54They are becoming more conscious every day about the environment and about ethical position
05:01brands.
05:03And that makes it a great fertile ground for brands like body shop.
05:09So it's super interesting for us to partner in this market.
05:14Won't agree less.
05:17What is in the immediate pipeline for the Middle East?
05:21Look, we are from a pipeline perspective, we want to become very conscious of the requirements
05:31from a local perspective.
05:34Fragrance is a big part of this region.
05:37So body shop has a long heritage in fragrance.
05:40And this is where we will be bringing in more innovation.
05:44Skin care is another area which is again a very important part of the consumer's requirements,
05:51consumer journey.
05:53And skin care is constantly developing.
05:56Body shop will also look to meet the requirements for multi-generations.
06:01So for the youth that's coming in, they will have different requirements.
06:07For the older consumer, pro-age and anti-aging.
06:13So we have to work with multi-generation family, male, female, young consumers.
06:23Thank you, Mike.
06:24I think you already answered my next question.
06:27But if there's anything you would like to add from a longer term perspective, how would
06:32we continue to cater to customers here in the Middle East?
06:36Anything specific.
06:37I think you already answered the question.
06:39We think that all around the world, there are opportunities for body shop to learn from
06:47local cultures, from local ingredients, local stories.
06:54And today's world gives that opportunity for something that may be a local cultural ingredient,
07:02for example, in the Middle East that can be taken globally into some of our international
07:08markets.
07:10So we are very excited to discover that from this region and give it an opportunity to
07:16shine in other parts of the world.
07:19Amazing.
07:21So my second last question is, what excites you the most about the future?
07:28I think the demanding consumer excites me the most.
07:34Because with a demanding consumer, we have to become more agile, more consumer-centric,
07:41more aware of where the trends are going to take us and anticipate that consumer demand
07:48as well.
07:50Amazing.
07:53Is there anything else you would like to add before we end this conversation?
07:56No.
07:57Body Shop is an incredible brand.
08:01We are super passionate about it.
08:03And for us, it's all about making sure that Body Shop is here in the next 50 years as
08:08it has been in the last 50 years.
08:11What a way to end.
08:12Thank you very much, Mike.
08:13Pleasure.