South: Hairdressing salon group buys back shares from LDC
Rush, the award-winning hair and beauty brand, marks its 25th anniversary by becoming a family-run business once again.
Co-founders and joint CEOs Andy Phouli and Stell Andrew opened their first salon in Wimbledon with a dream to make their mark on the hairdressing industry. The entrepreneurs did just that and in 2016 following a £16 million investment from private equity firm LDC, became the fastest growing salon group in the UK with close to 100 salons across the country, winning over 35 global hairdressing awards and sales of over £45 million.
With this success, today marks another momentous landmark in the Company’s history, following the buy-back of the shares LDC acquired in the company.
With Andy and Stell back at the helm of the family-run business once again, Peter Phouli, the son of Andy and Godson of Stell, also joins the Board. Stell Andrew added: “We believe in mixing our business model with a more creative approach to challenge the ‘traditional way of doing things’ in retail. Peter brings a real flair for innovation and will help drive our Company forward by using digital technologies to enhance the client experience at Rush - which is very much in line with our overall vision for the Company.”
Throughout the 25 years, Phouli and Andrew have continued to innovate whilst putting their colleagues and clients at the centre of everything they do.
Peter Phouli said: “We are in the business of making people feel special. With our vision of becoming the employer of choice, this is a phrase we use frequently within our business. We believe that both our colleagues and clients are part of the #rushfamily.
"We plan to strive for digital innovation in the industry and to listen to what our clients want. This is reflected by the fact we are repositioning our brand values in order to meet the needs of clients, and increasing our focus on quality of product and service even further, to ensure every client experience at Rush is a truly great one.”
Further commenting on the buy-back Andy Phouli said: “We are really proud of what we have achieved in the past 25 years. We have certainly come a long way since those early days when we opened the salon in Wimbledon.
"The investment from LDC assisted us to future-proof the business and put the systems and processes in place that we need as the business grows. However, it feels great to mark this milestone as a family-run business and have Peter join the Board as we take on the next chapter of our journey building on our success.”
