Future looks good for skincare brand

A SKINCARE brand which supplies its products to hotels across the world is set for further international expansion.

H2k, which recently opened a flagship store in Harrogate, was built up from scratch by Yorkshire entrepreneur Hazel Barry and sells luxury skincare, toiletries and spa products to hotels in the UK, in the Middle East, Australia and across Europe.

It lists some of the world’s biggest hotel brands among its customers, including Q Hotels, Marriott and Jumeirah Resorts, and with the company’s growth now picking up, it plans to expand into new international markets.

The original concept for the company evolved from Ms Barry’s plans to manufacture skincare products to help people who have inflammation of the skin that she suffers from.

“I had really dry skin and couldn’t find anything to help it until I found Kalahari melon oil which comes from Namibia and is really good as a natural moisturising derivative,” she explained.

H2k (H2 representing H2O and ‘K’ for Kalahari) then started building traction in the hotel industry.

“Being British globally is fantastic. We supply to the Middle East through a distributor in Dubai and since we rebranded in December they’ve doubled the amount of business they put with us because the Middle East market really likes the fact that it says Harrogate on the front of the bottle.”

“We sell about 250,000 bottles per month and have grown 20% on last year, and will grow by a further 20% next year. We expect to hit £10m turnover within five years. We’ll use it to make the brand global,” she added.

Sally Simpson, reporter and presenter with Yorkshire Television’s news programme Calendar, officially launched the flagship store on Parliament Street.

H2k of Harrogate is offering a wide range of skincare, toiletries, candles, a nail bar and beauty parlour.

H2k has announced that it will support Yorkshire Cancer Research by donating a portion of the sale of two new products to the charity.