“The Shape of Things to Come”…
On Wednesday 17th July, CEW issued a rallying call for politicians to get behind the British beauty industry at a reception at the House of Commons with HSBC. Worth £17bn to the UK economy and employing over 1 million people, CEW and HSBC’s aim is to celebrate and promote the importance of the beauty industry to the UK economy.
Hosted by Iain Wright MP, along with Caroline Neville, CEW President, and Carol Bagnald, HSBC Regional Commercial Director, London and attended by MPs and Peers, key beauty industry leaders, as well as senior delegates from the wider business community.
Keynote speakers were: Lord Digby Jones Kt., former Trade Minister and Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, speaking about his current views on business, the economy and the global marketplace and Roisin Donnelly, Corporate Marketing Director of P&G and Chairman of CEW, spoke of creating jobs and driving innovation in the industry.
The global beauty industry is worth €378bn and predicted to grow to €487bn by 2017, growth of 29%. UK exports for cosmetics have been increasing at approximately 5% every year. In addition, online beauty sales reached £606 million in 2012 and are estimated to rise to £715 million by the end of 2013.
Caroline Neville, CEW(UK) President commented: “British beauty products are respected globally for their style and innovation in much the same way as British fashion and British luxury brands. Therefore we need to do more to export our products and secure a larger share of the global beauty market. That makes business sense and has to be good news for the UK economy. CEW are kick starting this campaign and will be there to support brands throughout.”
The industry body also wants to see more women encouraged to reach the upper echelons of the beauty business; in the way that female MPs were encouraged into the Commons in 1997 when the number of female MPs doubled. To support this, 620,000 businesses in the UK are owned by women, many within the beauty industry. It is predicted that by 2025, women will account for 60% of all personal wealth, and much of this will sit in the 50 plus group.
For more photographs from this event please click here.
*figures supplied by various research engines/agencies
