Laser Clinics UK expects to double its network in the next four months to take advantage of what its MD describes as a powder-keg market.

“We’re determined to be the market leader in the UK in terms of awareness and market reach,” says Jonathan Gardner, “and we’re aiming to open a clinic every week.”

The company has already secured a number of prime-location shopping centre sites so new franchise partners will have a strong head start.

And the programme of new clinic openings comes after a post-lockdown trading period in which the brand’s business almost doubled its forecasts.

“April surpassed all our expectations,” says Jonathan. “We were even generating revenue when our clinics were closed because people were buying their treatments online.

“All of those sales have been funnelled to the local franchise partner’s clinic, and that new e-commerce revenue now accounts for 10% of our income stream.”

Manchester franchise partner Rhian Whiteside confirms that business is booming. “You always expect a new business to be quieter for the first six months, but we were busy right from the beginning,” she says.

“We’ve done double the business I would have expected in a pandemic, we’ve hit targets every month, and customers trust us. That shows in the figures. And we’ve had great reviews, too. It’s going really, really well.”

Jonathan adds: “During lockdown, we were very busy transforming our business and modifying it – and when clinics were allowed to open again, we were ready with our biggest ever sale with 50% off laser hair removal and 40% off skincare treatments.

“To say it was even bigger than Black Friday would be an understatement. We modelled it on Black Friday and it went on for four weeks.”

“May was 20% ahead of expectations, we opened our new Richmond clinic, and our injectables campaign produced a 50% uplift.

“We attribute that success to the pent-up demand from clients who couldn’t come to our clinics, the rebranding of our whole business and new ‘Beauty tailored to you’ strapline, and the launching of our new website with its live bookings diary and e-commerce function.”

Jonathan says Laser Clinics UK is about to enter its busiest time of year, with the biggest ever Summer Sale, and he predicts the uplift in demand for its services will be “incredible”.

“The sun comes out and everyone wants to look their best. That’s where laser hair removal and our skin treatments come into their own because, naturally, people want to prepare themselves for holidays.”

Laser Clinics UK operates a 50-50 partnership with all franchisees, giving the company a strong incentive to ensure each clinic is a huge success. Several new clinics are set to open across the UK through the summer, with franchise partners already having advantage of the brand’s forward-planning when it comes to securing prime locations.