Investment boost for beauty brand

BEAUTY company Grace Cole is targeting fresh growth in international markets after agreeing a multi-million investment from the Business Growth Fund.

The Stockport-based company, owned by Tracy Mort and her husband Steven, made a profit of £2.2m on sales of £9.6m in the year to February 2015.

Last year the Morts bought out long-term shareholder Eric Gerrard and are now looking to expand its product range and its international footprint by capitalising on demand for British products.

Grace Cole’s range of products and gifts are sold in leading department stores and pharmacies including House of Fraser, Debenhams, John Lewis and Lloyds, and exported to more than 80 countries worldwide through a global distribution network.

With all of the daily care products manufactured in the UK, Grace Cole has experienced rapid sales growth in countries such as Japan and Saudi Arabia where there is strong customer demand for ‘made in England’ beauty products.

BGF’s investment will be used to support entry into new markets, and drive further sales in existing markets which include the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The business also plans to diversify into new product categories in response to demand from its retail customers.

Tracy Mort, founder and CEO, Grace Cole said: “We have created an efficient model of design, production and distribution, developed strong retail relationships and secured a loyal customer base.

Having built a great foundation for the business, we are now excited to scale-up our operations even further with BGF’s financial backing. We wanted to bring on board an investment partner that would be supportive but non-controlling, and as such BGF’s long-term, minority approach was the right fit.”

Neil Inskip, investor at BGF said: “In less than nine years, Grace Cole has grown from start-up to a business with product ranges selling in more than 80 countries worldwide. This is a significant achievement and testament to talent and ambition of Tracy and her management team.

“We are delighted to be providing Tracy with the support and financial backing to pursue her growth aspirations for the business.”

The investment was led for BGF by Manchester-based Neil Inskip and Pinesh Mehta. BGF’s legal adviser was Squire Patton Boggs, while Addleshaw Goddard.