Khaleej Times

Khaleej Times

11/28/2024

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.

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