Nail salons overlooked by male-led investment for decades
Nail salons are following a Starbucks-style expansion that has been ignored by investors for decades, the boss of Britain’s biggest luxury chain said after securing a £130 million valuation.
Townhouse, which operates 40 luxury nail salons in the UK, said it was targeting hundreds of new franchise sites after securing backing from the US private equity firm behind the Burger King and Tim Horton chains in China.
Cartesian Capital’s new investment will accelerate the expansion of the business, which was founded by Juanita Huber-Millet in 2018 and is chaired by her husband and CEO Jonathan Millet.
Mr Millet said a turning point had been achieved in the nail care industry, which is highly fragmented and often underinvested in compared to other services.
“I think it’s probably an element of beauty services that is generally overlooked,” he told the Press Association.
“I would say that historically, 20, 30 years ago, there was an element of finance and capital being predominantly male-dominated and this being an industry that primarily catered to women.
“So if you’re a male private equity investor, maybe it wasn’t front and center in your mind as something to invest in 15 or 20 years ago.”
He drew comparisons to industries such as coffee shops, hotels, gyms and sandwich shops, which have expanded with the emergence of chains in recent years.
Other parts of the beauty salon industry, such as waxing and massage, have begun to grow with brands that “offer a Starbucks-like experience” after years of the beauty services industry being “left behind.”
Meanwhile, there are no major nail salon chains in the UK, and Townhouse is entering a market often led by independent and boutique shops.
Mr Millet also said the nail industry was plagued by poor working conditions for staff, a lack of employment contracts and even cases of modern slavery.
“There has historically been a lot of worker exploitation in our industry,” he told the Press Association.
“When Covid hit there were a lot of people in the industry who didn’t have contracts, were only getting paid in cash, so they weren’t able to access government aid.
“And as we recruit, we still see a lot of people working in the industry who don’t have contracts, right down to some elements of human trafficking and contract labor, even though it’s less common.”
Townhouse says it offers nail technicians above-market wages, private healthcare, paid leave and structured career progression; this includes the US, where it currently has a handful of stores.
