CBC Stories

How to Build a Global Brand

CBC Stories talks to an entrepreneur who made it big in the highly competitive beauty industry.

Mark Woolley

CBC Stories is the founder and International Creative Director of leading British hair brand Electric. The business comprises award-winning salons, an ethical products line, a global education offer, a photographic and film studio, a shared workspace for leading creatives in central London, and a farm and headquarters right here in the Sussex countryside. Here, he talks about his business journey

Tell us a bit about you and your story

Every time I say this, I shudder a little bit. I’ve now been a hairdresser for thirty-one years and I think, every time I say it, I think I’m old. I started when I was sixteen and grew up in the north of England, in a little town in north Yorkshire. I started with a national company and they were called Saks. I started with those guys and, basically, Saks was two guys who had been quite prominent hairdressers in London. They had both worked with Sassoon and that, and carved out a big following. They ended up back in their native northeast and, when I joined them, they had about eight salons that were in all the prominent towns and cities in the northeast. It was great - it was a lot of like-minded creative people. I always credit those guys. They just set me off on the right foot. Hairdressing is a brilliant skill; it’s creativity and the business side of it is quite simple to operate. It was just a lot of fun.

It was an industry that I found by chance. It found me in the last year of school. I have enjoyed the credit and the business elements of it.

Like Toni and Guy, Saks were one of the early pioneers of franchising so they allowed people to have their own business and they were training people from a young age to be able to operate a business. When I look back, I think that was a really clever thing. I learned my craft with them; I opened

my first salon with them. I moved to London with them because I had this burning desire to live in London.

When I moved from the north down to London, I was nineteen and I opened my first salon with them when I was twenty-one. It was a great journey. They taught me well. I’ve always enjoyed the hairdressing and I still do a lot of that now. I see it as something to enjoy even though it is business as well. It is the same sort of thing that someone would get from doing the garden or playing golf.

Did you always envisage from a young age that you would one day run your own business and where does that drive and determination come from?

I was listening to, it might have been a podcast, somebody talk about the influences people have in life. For some people it’s school teachers and for some people, who play a sport, it’s the coach of the football team that has a huge influence on their life. I’ve listened to a lot of people tell those experiences and I’ve read a lot biographies as well. My favorite books to read are biographies. I think one of my influences was when I was growing up. My dad worked in IT, he was in middle management of a company, and my mum worked at a school. We had a fairly humble life. We had one holiday a year and lived in a very normal house. Our nextdoor neighbours were friends with my parents. The guy was running his own business and he had a BMW. They seemed to be able to go on holiday whenever they wanted, and I remember thinking that must be what you had to do to get that stuff; you must have to have your own business.

Every now and again someone would say ‘I own my own business’ and ‘I’m doing this’, so one of my goals from being at school was that I would like to own my own business. I wasn’t academic but I was really into art. I liked art, music and I liked sports - but they weren’t academic subjects. In the subconscious, hairdressing presented itself as a creative, fun business to be involved in. There were all these young people who seemed to own their own businesses and I thought that might be for me. It sounds so silly when you say it like that, but I think they were the touchpoints.

Dennis and Malcolm, who started Saks, and Steve, the fella that runs it now, were all instrumental. It was in an era when you felt you had to work hard for things. People were looking to get mentored whereas everybody now has a mentor. I felt lucky to learn from those guys.

How have you managed to stand out and become such a globally recognised brand?

How did Saks turn into Electric? Because it was a successful franchise model, it became a very good proposition for people to own a franchise so people started owning them who weren’t from the industry and stuff like that. I just felt that the creativity died a little bit and it had become a business.

When I moved to London my then girlfriend was studying fashion at Central St Martins and today she’s the global creative director of Agent Provocateur. We’ve known each other since we were about fifteen and we still work together sometimes. She moved to London and I was there as a hairdresser, knocking around with some of these people. Eventually, people would say ‘Can you come and do the hair shoot for me?’ I was eighteen at this point so I’d say ‘Of course’.

I became very good friends with one of the founders of Toni ad Guy, Anthony Mascolo. He was one of the people I looked up to in hairdressing. I met him by chance on a ski trip. We are still very good friends now and we’ve worked on a lot of projects together over the years. I would say to him: ‘I’m going to do a shoot tomorrow for David Comer.’ He’d say: ‘How on Earth are you doing that?’

It was one of those things. I was in the circle, I’d met a few people.

Anthony started teaching me how to do hair on shoots. Then I’d do more session work. Eventually, a lady came to me, Joy Goodman, who ran an agency and asked

if I’d be interested in any red carpet stuff. The next thing, I had an agent. That started my separation from Saks.

I felt my Saks salon in Brighton was a bit different from all the other Saks. It was creative. We had this atmosphere that felt electric. When somebody came into our salon, there was great music playing and we were doing great hair. We kept talking about this atmosphere. I bought myself out of my Saks contract and they couldn’t kick me out of my salon because I owned it, but it left me without a London salon. This would have been 2005 or 2006. It took about 18 months and shop became available on Marylebone High Street.

I knew the area and Saks were in Convent Garden and it wasn’t that far from there. It opened in 2007. I did a lot of brand ambassador work for L’Oreal and became very friendly with one of the chemists based in Paris. He then went to work for Estee Lauder and moved back to London. We’d been working on a formula for a styling cream that would evaporate. The head buyer at Harvey Nichols asked if we could get some other products around this styling cream. It took two years to get four products and we launched them exclusively at Harvey Nichols. It led to us opening two salons.

What has been your biggest challenge during your journey? Tell us about how the past two years have impacted the business

Covid is the obvious answer, but some types of businesses flourished. It did affect us. I don’t think there is anybody who didn’t have to restructure their business a little bit. It cost us hundreds of thousands of pounds, no question.

Some salons fell into rate grant territory, which was brilliant, and we had furlough. I do salute our government for that. Some of our salons, where the rates were too high to get a grant, we had to take out a Bounce Back loan for. With covid, everyone had to take on a bit of debt and manage the expectations of staff. Some came back and said they didn’t want to do it anymore.

What does ‘success’ look like to you?

Success is taking one of those goals that you’ve set and seeing it come to fruition.

What one piece of advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Stick with it and never give up.

Who has been your biggest inspiration throughout your journey and why?

Probably Anthony Mascolo who, funnily enough, was our rival. A brilliant allround creative.

Could you recommend a business book or podcast for our listeners?

Tune into the County Business Talks Podcast

This is a small extract from a lengthy podcast interview. The full podcast can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/

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Solicitors are expensive. Solicitors complicate things. That’s just a fact of life. Or is it?

Fiona Dodd, a Partner at Mayo Wynne Baxter, explains how good advice, at the right time can save clients money and gives some good examples when it comes to will writing.

I have some lovely elderly clients - I saw them a few years ago. We talked about their family, their children, their property, their hopes and fears about what might happen if one of them dies; their priorities. After a good, long talk, they decided that their wills, drawn up a few years beforehand were just fine, and decided to do nothing. They paid me for my time and advice, and we parted ways. I think it cost them around £250. I saw them again recently. They were contacted out of the blue by a company selling asset protection products and Wills. After spending £2,800 up front, they received some very sloppy documentation that they didn’t really understand. They called the provider but found it increasingly difficult to get hold of anyone in the office other than a receptionist. The family were worried and called me in. They cancelled the contract. They have lost their money.

Having looked at the product they were sold, it’s clear that it would not have Legal achieved what they thought it would. We discussed everything once more, and they have decided to do something that we are all confident will achieve their aims and that they understood. They have paid around £400 for this advice and they, and their family, are much more comfortable with their choice now. When we were talking, I mentioned that, if I get it wrong, they can sue me.

We all laughed, but I have more than 20 years’ experience as a solicitor, I belong to a profession that is heavily regulated, that requires all its members to have significant insurance and an easily identifiable complaints and redress process. I also give advice. I do not sell a product. I do not have a vested interest in whether a client proceeds with a document or not. I am paid to advise.

As part of a regulated profession, I am not allowed to stray into areas of law where I do not have any demonstrable knowledge. Because I advise on the administration of estates, as well as writing wills, I know what works in a practical sense, and what doesn’t. I once saw a will that was 26 pages long, looked good on the surface, and clearly had a lot of legal phrases in there, but which on closer inspection turned out to be utter nonsense. The good thing was that we were able to put it right before my client died. Had we not, it would have been extremely expensive for them to sort out.

A great part of my job is to understand exactly what my client wants. In will writing, I am the expert, but in their family dynamics, and relationships, my client is the expert. We work together to help them make an informed choice about their wills, and what will be best for their family after they’ve gone.

I regularly have clients ask me about “Asset Protection Trusts” which they have found out about through cold calling, a leaflet through the door, or other advertising. Often the advertising suggests that these can be used to protect against care home fees. This is not true.

If a client comes to us to ask about this, we can provide specialist advice and discuss all the possible consequences before they decide what to do. It is worth repeating. We are not selling a product. We are there to advise.

There are some great will writers who are not solicitors, and not all solicitors are great will writers. But sadly, at the moment, will writing is not a regulated profession.

When you are considering making a will, or checking if your present will is still ok, ask these questions:

1. How much experience do you have? 2. Where will my documents be stored – and do you charge for that? 3. What if I decide not to proceed? 4. What if things go wrong? 5. Are you insured? 6. How are your charges calculated? 7. Am I paying for the advice or the product? 8. Can I appoint anyone as my executor?

This last question is very important. You should not be tied to appointing the will writer as your executor if you have a choice. Administering an estate can be very complex. It is sometimes extremely advisable to have a professional involved, and we will certainly discuss this with you if you feel it may be appropriate. But a professional will writer, solicitor or not, will charge for their services, and if you paid a lot at the start, your estate may end up paying even more later. At least if you can choose your executor, you get to choose who is in control.

Solicitors are expensive? Solicitors’ complicate things?

I don’t think so.

Fiona Dodd

www.mayowynnebaxter.co.uk 0800 84 94 101

Employment Law: The Recession and Redundancies

The legal position for SMEs outlined by 365 Employment Law

As we start to see the economy decline, many businesses are worried about how to deal with staff. Rising interest rates, increasing borrowing costs and rising inflation, including increasing energy costs, mean redundancies are inevitable. The issue of staff redundancies will be in the news as the economic situation deteriorates in the Autumn. Employers that have held off on redundancies would be wise to consider the next steps they might want to take, before the situation for them becomes critical. How those redundancies happen is important from both a reason perspective, but given a process must be followed, also a procedural one. If employers make redundancies quickly in the autumn as financial problems hit them, they will face difficulty arguing that dismissals are not, at the very least, procedurally unfair. If the number of affected staff is over 20, then collective rules apply. I do not focus on those for the purpose of this article, but on the smaller number redundancies, that affect SMEs on a more regular basis,

and that will have to be faced when they are faced with those financial pressures. Legal Many of these considerations should already be in the mind of employers. The legal position relating to redundancy of staff sets out that it can happen in one of three situations, business closure, workplace closure (i.e. the location where the employee worked closes), and the most commonly used, a reduction in the need for staff to do work of a particular kind. A reduction in the need for staff to do work of a particular kind is the most common

route to staff redundancies at this time. The staff are redundant if the employer no longer has the requirement for staff to do work of a particular kind. The test is not whether the work still exists, but whether or not the role is needed to do the work. This means that redundancy can be because of specific work reduction, for costs saving purposes, or for reorganisation purposes. As an example, in hospitality, a widely affected area as energy bills become unaffordable, a bar owner may have two bar managers, both of whom share shifts, so both are needed. The employer may decide to make one of those redundant to save costs, despite the work need being there, and do some of the shifts themself. That would be a genuine redundancy, as the requirement for a bar manager has ceased. They would of course have to have a fair selection process to decide which employee goes, but one of those roles is redundant. A redundancy situation does not occur under this heading, if an employee is made “redundant” and someone else is hired into exactly the same role. Using the above example, if another bar manager is immediately hired, a redundancy situation would not exist.

An employee made redundant will be entitled to statutory redundancy pay. The right to qualify for that pay is conditional on two years’ continuous employment with the employer.

The reason why it is important for employers to get this process right, is that if an employee is not redundant, or they are unfairly selected, or a fair procedure is not followed, the employee will have an Unfair Dismissal claim, and could receive much higher amounts of compensation.

Employers should also think about selection, and whether or not genuine redundancies exist.

Employers also often have the mistaken belief that they can change hours and/or pay. They can only do this with informed consent. If they unilaterally vary either, they run the risk of a constructive dismissal claim and/or a claim for unpaid wages for any differences in pay. They could of course explore these possibilities with employees as a means of avoiding redundancy, and reach agreement in that regard, but should never impose such changes unless redundancy is not possible and there are dire financial circumstances.

Please, always take advice on any staffrelated issues.

Alex Jones

By Alex Jones, Managing Director,

365 Employment Law Tel: 01903 863284

ajones@365employmentlaw.co.uk www.365employmentlaw.co.uk

Engage Wealth Management explains how retirement is about more than money

Life after work is where most of us are heading. It’s why we’re working now saving diligently. But there is more to the financial aspect of moving into retirement. As financial advisers, we have encountered thousands of people leading up to and beyond retirement. Often our clients’ focus is on ‘Can I afford to stop working?’ or ‘Are we investing enough?’. Most people overlook the enormous transition into a new phase of life. We are not fans of the word ‘retirement’. It often doesn’t fill people with joy and excitement. But it should! So, today, we will call retirement ‘life after work’. This helps with visualisation. No longer is it ‘retirement’, but you’re just moving onto a different stage in life. A fantastic step where, with careful planning, you can do everything important to you. You could travel, spend time with grandchildren or adult children, start a new business, work part-time, volunteer or do whatever it is that makes you happy. Let us clarify: You WILL be moving to this stage of life. You will leave that business behind one day, if you run a business.

Finance

Many entrepreneurs, and employees, get caught up in an endless pursuit of growth. Or squirrelling away funds for their life after work. But then what…?

Your identity and a sense of purpose

For most of us, work is our identity.

‘I’m an IT consultant/lawyer/accountant. I run a business doing X or providing X.’

Whether you love your work or not, work often provides a sense of

purpose. This could involve collaborating on projects to get them over the line, helping clients achieve their goals or taking care of employees.

This identity and a sense of purpose disappear once you leave the workplace.

Yuval Noah Harari’s book Sapiens (highly recommended) discusses the definition of happiness. Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman studied people’s everyday lives and found a paradox in most people’s views of their lives. Take raising a child, for example, which usually involves a persistent lack of sleep, changing nappies, dealing with temper tantrums and endless tidying up. Yet most people claim their children provide their chief source of happiness…

One way of looking at these results is that happiness is achieved through a sense of purpose. Raising a child, building a business, or building a career are all challenging pursuits. But that sense of purpose - that you’re making something great for you and your family - drives most people.

What can you do to prepare for this new stage in life?

Here are some thoughts:

1. Start preparing now

When planning for this life stage, it is important to visualise what life after work looks like. How will you spend day 1/day 100/day 1000?! Be specific, from the moment you wake up until bed that evening.

This planning can start early, and it will change.

No longer will you be doing the school run, morning commute, logging on and chatting to your co-workers about the weekend.

Writing a bucket list before retirement will help you visualise this time and ease into this new stage of life.

2. Have a routine

When work stops, the routine it provided will leave a gap in your life.

Try to establish a new morning routine. Whether this involves a morning walk, yoga session or breakfast with a loved one. Establishing a routine is essential for a healthy life after work stage.

3. Have a celebration

You’re about to achieve that moment that most people dream of. You no longer NEED to work. So celebrate this!

We celebrate many other life stages such as graduations, a new job or launching a new business venture. So why not celebrate your new life stage?

You could take an extended family trip abroad and organise a ‘life after work’ party.

This helps with the psychological shift and provides an opportunity to gather friends a family together before changing your lifestyle.

4. Social circle

This is a crucial point. For some people, your social circle will change entirely if this has been formed around the workplace. Or perhaps you’ve moved home to afford retirement. Take note of who is within your social circle and make an effort to deepen these relationships. This is important for people with little or no family nearby.

5. Stay healthy

Our top tips.

Gardening, walking, yoga or swimming are great ways to ease into exercise. Or crank it up a level by joining a cycling club, taking up kite surfing, mountain biking or running.

This keeps your body and mind healthy and helps to form social relationships. Many people have stated that health is more important than financial security during life after work.

Finally, remember that you have one shot at life on this planet. Make sure you enjoy it. Life after work is an opportunity to do the things you’ve always wanted, help the people you’ve wanted to, and make the most significant impact on this world.

One final point. we have helped hundreds of people retire successfully and had thousands of conversations about life after work. The happiest and most content people we know living life after work now spend their days exercising and socialising. Exercise provides routine, identity, social circles and staying healthy in one hit.

Engage Wealth Management provides financial and retirement planning to successful business owners & busy professionals. If you’re approaching your ‘life after work’ stage and confused about the financial aspects, get in touch.

Website: https://engagewm.co.uk Telephone: 01273 076587 Email: hello@engagewm.co.uk