they could get a fitting. I had visions of
having 10 fitters. Maybe one day!
But on the other hand, women do
phone here and our customer service
team talk to them for 10-15 minutes,
advising them on fit and styling. We
have a no quibble returns policy
and free postage. I think we have a
very personal touch and I think that
differentiates us from the rest of the
market place.
Melissa: And that’s why our next area
of investment for 2018 is all around
dealing with customers and making it a
more personal experience. Yes, people
like going into shops and being fitted,
but by the same measure, people do like
to buy and try and home. Personally, I
don’t try anything in store, even
clothes. Some retailers would make a
killing if they sorted their lighting out.
So yes, bricks and mortar would
be lovely, and it’s working brilliantly
for Bravissimo, but it’s a massive
investment. Short-term for us it’s about
improving the online experience and
making it more personable.
Your business is projected to
raise £8m this year, up from
£51,000 the first year. How have
you been able to achieve this?
Melissa: What we did is we sat down,
looked at our buying strategy and came
up with a very clear business plan and
got on with it. We work very hard and
we focus on building good relationships
with people. We have had some
moments where it has been very
difficult because running your own
business is tough. When I came here, I
thought I’d be working a few hours a
week, but when you run your own
business you have all the HR to do, all
the accounts to do – corporation tax,
inland revenue, pensions – as well as
health and safety. You’re also
responsible for all the strategy and all
the decisions. But it works out because
we plod on and get on with it. We had a
HMRC audit last year because we had
grown so quickly and they wanted to
understand our business. The lady that
came to visit us was so complimentary,
she said ‘you have that magic’. That’s
what we do with all our manufacturers
– get them to come and visit us to see
The business owners
inside their warehouse
how the business runs – and they are
always impressed.
Have you made a profit?
Melissa: We make profit, but we
reinvest it into the business and that’s
how we have grown. We haven’t had any
investment from external companies.
So all of our double-screen computers,
all the scanners, all the stock –
everything we have we reinvest into
this company because that is our short-
term strategy. So we make a profit, but
we are 100% committed to growth right
now. We believe we are the largest
independent in the UK now. In some
instances, we believe we are selling
more than the nationals on some brands
50 | Issue 1 | January-March 2020 | Beauty Aesthetics International
LINGERIEINSIGHT January 2018 www.lingerieinsight.co.uk
26
where we have heavily invested. We
want to be synonymous with a national
– that’s where we want to be – and in
order for us to get there we need to grow,
so we are not taking all the money out
and living the dream.
Where do you hope to be in five
years’ time?
Melissa: I think we will have stabilised
as a national business. We have
identified huge growth areas and we
want to push into those now. And we
want to be the go-to place for your
lingerie needs. We do a tremendous
amount of cross-brand selling because
we have that diversity of styles available
to meet all lingerie needs.