A Jewel in the Crown

Ultimate Skin and Body from Ashmore has been named Champion Beauty and Skincare Services at the Australian Small Business Champion Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony held on Saturday, 3rd September 2022 at The Star Sydney, with over 1,000 guests in attendance.

“The Australian Small Business Champion Awards is a way to recognise the efforts of small business people whose efforts contribute to the prosperity and vitality of communities across Australia”, said Steve Loe, Managing Director of Precedent Productions, and founder of the awards. “We’re so proud of the growth and continued interest we see annually. Its growth, after all, is the real reason the awards were created. To highlight outstanding businesses who tirelessly produce and create exceptional products and services; to recognise and reward Australia’s small business community.”

The Awards are presented by the Commonwealth Bank, and supported by Awards Partners, Nine Plus, NOVA Employment, cub – Club of United Business, Xcllusive Business Sales, Castaway Forecasting and Big Clean.

Nicola Le Lievre accepted the award on behalf of Ultimate Skin and Body.

Ultimate Skin and body also received a certificate and gained national recognition as an industry leader. In addition, having their passion, dedication, commitment, and hard work celebrated amongst their peers was an experience they will treasure for many years to come.

Upon accepting the award from presenter Peter Overton, Nicola thanked all the team from Precedent Productions, the judges, and sponsors, and all the other amazing finalists of the Champion Beauty and Skincare Services category and finished her speech by saying that they try so very hard to always bring the best to the Australian Beauty Industry.

Ultimate Skin and Body started as the original Australian Skin Clinic. From its conception in 1996 to the formation of the Australian Skin Clinics franchise in 2011, it offered one of the widest ranges of treatments available, from softer treatments such as massage and facials to highend non-surgical procedures. With a staff of 14, it was booked morning to night and serviced the most wealthy and famous ladies of the Gold Coast.

By 2010 owner Deb Farnworth-Wood decided that it would be difficult to replicate the business in its one-stop-shop format because of the complexity of staff skill mix, equipment costs and other logistics. She streamlined the model to launch the Australian Skin Clinics franchised model. She grew this from 1 clinic to a franchise of 60 in just over five years.

Having sold the franchise in 2019, Deb retained her beloved Ashmore clinic location on Cotlew Street to pursue her love of aesthetics further. After 25 years of trading as Australian Skin Clinics in Ashmore, the clinic rebrand is an end of an era and the start of an exciting new one. bringing back some of the higher-end treatments but avoiding those over complex, higher risk or in less demand. The result was the perfect mix of treatments across all ages and budgets.

Launched in February 2019, Ultimate Skin and Body entered the Medi-Aesthetic world with a new look, bespoke treatments and a boutique and personalised concept. Deb continues to seek only the most credible and effective nonsurgical treatments for our discerning clients. Offering a comprehensive menu of Skin and Body Treatments, Cosmetic Injectables, Hair Removal, Brow bar and Make-Up.

Offering 12 on-site customer parking spaces, a highly skilled team of paramedical aestheticians, registered nurses, a medical director, eight treatment rooms, an advanced skin analysis platform and a dedication to providing results.

The clinic has a database of over 30,000 clients and now operates in eight rooms. Some of its clients have been returning regularly for more than 20 years. Having survived the GFC and COVID, becoming a franchise and then rebranded, pivoting has become second nature to the team.

Over to you Deb… to share a little about more about Ultimate Skin and Body.

Our values and beliefs for healthy skin and bodies using cruelty-free, vegan, and ethical treatments are interconnected. Over the past two years, we have challenged our brand vision to help people reconnect with themselves and others, says Deb.

At Ultimate, we believe in the following principles for clients and staff.

Respecting and having empathy for the emotions of others Respecting the perspective of others - “in their shoes”. Wanting to help- feeling sympathy and concern for someone vulnerable or distressed. Unbiased - we encourage diversity.

At Ultimate Skin and Body, we make every effort to be sustainable and socially responsible. We are forever mindful and aware of the present and future environmental impacts generated by businesses worldwide.

Below are some daily things we do to help energy efficiency and be more ecofriendly.

• Actively reduce energy consumption through conserving air conditioning and reducing heat absorption. We set our air conditioners to 24 degrees in the summer and are limited only to the treatment rooms in us.

• Adopted the policy of ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle or refuse all consumables, tools, and equipment for our clinic to achieve zero waste.

• Minimise our carbon footprint by reducing our use of single-use plastics

• Conscious of the efficient use of water in daily operations

• Choose to use Issada, which is ethical - produced and sustainably sourced ingredients

• Paperless operation where we have opted to go wholly digital for consultations, receipts, menus etc

• Selection of environmentally friendly products for cleaning and hygiene purposes.

• Purchase in bulk to minimise wastage.

• Staff education in sustainability and social responsibility for consistency and results

• Appliances sourced with energy-efficient ratings. We prefer updating existing devices instead of buying new ones, and we do regular maintenance to ensure the long life of the equipment.

At Ultimate, we are led by our ‘Client Journey’ protocol and confidential ‘Diamond Standards’ to ensure our guests’ utmost professional and welcoming experience.

Key elements to our Diamond Standard include:

• Empathy

• Authenticity

• Integrity

• Connection

• Truth

• Confidentiality

We believe in investing in our team; how we treat our team will transpire into how they treat our valued customers. In 2021 we implemented an Employee Ownership Trust.

The concept of an ownership trust is to encourage all staff to “think like an owner” and benefit from the growth and profit they contribute to. It requires guidance, education, and mentorship from the business owner, but offers many advantages for the business, its owners, and staff. In turn, staff can have a say in the industry and a vested interest in working as a team.

Ultimate Skin and Body are also finalists in the inaugural 2022 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards! This is a tremendous achievement!!

The 2022 Women’s Champions winners will be announced on Saturday 12th November, 2022. Wish us luck! x

HOW WE TREAT OUR TEAM WILL TRANSPIRE INTO HOW THEY TREAT OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS.

- DEB FARNWORTH-WOOD