A female entrepreneur who founded the successful Pink Boutique online fashion firm has left the business to persue a separate venture.
Alice Hall started Pink Boutique with her mother Julie Blackie in 2012, initially juggling the business at home with other jobs to help pay her mortgage and bills.
The venture has grown to boast a turnover of £14.1m and a staff of 70, with Mrs Hall managing the customer facing part of the business while her mother managed its operations.
But now Mrs Hall, who earned a place on the Forbes Under 30 Europe list, has left the Newburn-based business, to expand Rowen Homes, a home interiors business she initially launched with her husband as Glamhomestore.com three years ago.
She said: “The journey from a £90 investment through to selling thousands of dresses a day with a workforce of 70 people has been an absolutely fantastic experience.
“I’ve learnt every skill there is to run a medium-sized online fashion business. I’ve worked with some incredible people, both in-house and externally, and many of those people are credit to PB’s exponential success.
“I’m sure the company will continue to be a strong business and the staff team will continue to make it a wonderful place to work.
“My step away from Pink Boutique allows me to focus on this passion and after much encouragement from friends, family and prospective clients. I’m excited to say I’m going to be broadening the focus of Rowen Homes to include home makeovers.”
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Her mother Julie Blackie, co-founder, managing director and now owner of Pink Boutique, said Mrs Hall’s leaving the business coincided with the appointment of a new CEO David Quinn, who has helped the firm diversify since the 海角视频 came under strict lockdown measures to slow down the spread of coronavirus.
Mrs Hall initially left her role last October to spend more time with her young family and the pair had embarked on the recruitment of a CEO, while working on an exit plan through a company share buy-back arrangement, which concluded last month.
Mr Quinn, a seasoned retailer who joined in January, having spent 20 years with Fenwick as well as time as a consultant with large retail chains in Dubai, has joined Mrs Blackie in managing the effects of coronavirus on the business.
Mrs Blackie said: “Those effects have been swift and impactful, sales plummeted on the day the lockdown was announced.
“Pink Boutique customers primarily buy glamorous dresses to go out to pubs, clubs and restaurants and suddenly the bottom had dropped out of the market. We are gradually recovering sales as we have switched our focus to selling clothes you can lounge about in.
“Alice and I have always been most proud of creating 70 jobs in our home town. We have had to put the majority of our staff ‘on the bench’ while a much smaller team of essential staff either work from home or socially distance themselves in our warehouse.
“We are so grateful for the Government subsidy to pay those furloughed while we try to maintain the business so we are still here when things return to normal – whatever normal will look like.
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“David and the senior management team have great plans to get us through the next few months.
“Our staff have been tremendous, we keep in touch with the furloughed staff regularly to let them know what is happening.
“Each department has a WhatsApp group where they are constantly chatting and supporting each other. Pink Boutique is a very close-knit family business. I will do my utmost to ensure it survives and we can bring people back into work.”
She added: “I am very proud of Alice and what we have achieved together at Pink Boutique.
“She sprinkled fairy dust on whatever she touched, whether it was on her choice of products, the way she styled the models, the campaigns she came up with or her refreshing approach to marketing.”
“David’s recruitment will help the business move to the next level and he is a great asset as we try to survive these difficult times. The company is in safe hands and we will continue to deliver Alice’s vision for the brand.”