Redmond's Hair and Beauty, 19 Main Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois

Natalie Redmond

Beauty | Online Beauty Retailer of the Year  

Not only do we have products in the salon but we have products online for everyone to buy.

We have hair products, gift sets, teeth whitening products and make up products available to purchase online.

Our online stores consist of
our online phorest shop
Shop in Ireland store
Pigsback

We offer shipping all over Ireland.

Brief description of our salon strengths

- Our biggest strength I believe would be our well trained and highly knowledgable team.
- We are situated in a prime location on Portlaoise Main Street
- We have exclusivity in our area for Qiqi Vega. Making us the go to salon for permanent hair straightening.
- Booking with us. There are so many ways to book with us, we are literally open 24/7. Facebook, instagram, email, website, phone, text and online booking.
- We open 2 late nights a week, which gives people more flexibility when booking if they work or have to wait for partners to come home to care for children.

Recent Achievements/ Awards

- In 2022 we were runner up for Outstanding Salon of the Year in the Irish Hair and Beauty awards
- We received “Client experience award” 2022 from Phorest for our 5* reviews
- We have recently expanded our team by 2 new members. We find this as an achievement as we are growing as a business and creating local jobs during a time where inflation is crippling.
- We are almost the new owners of our building. Instead of renting, this will now open up opportunities for us to expand the business.

Charity

We do tremendous charity work every year. Some recent charity work was raising money for Women's Aid after Aisling Murphy was murdered
Donations to PATH and washing sleeping bags for them
Local secondary school Hair and makeup for their fashion show to raise money for the anti natal unit in portlaoise hospital
Abseil 300ft off Croke Park for Suicide or Survive
Gave the HSE workers in portlaoise hospital a complimentary blowdry when we reopened after covid to thank them
We had a collection for Ukraine when the war started

Re-Nu Skin & Beauty Clinic

Niamh Darcy

Beauty | Online Beauty Retailer of the Year  

Re-Nu Skin & Beauty Clinic
Kilbride Street, Tullamore, County Offaly- R35 FP79

Having grown up in a family run business where values of honesty, ambition and determination were strongly upheld; it was inevitable that I would decide to establish my own business. My family have worked hard and demonstrated resilience over the years and in turn I feel that this is reflected in my own work ethic and through my passion for Re-Nu. I love seeing my clients and regular customers come in through the door, it brings me such joy! With the support of my loyal team, we always endeavour to provide our client base with a warm welcome, high quality service and ongoing support and aftercare in particular when they are on their skin journey!

Over the course of the last decade, I have been privileged to work and train alongside some of the most powerful women and skin companies in the industry. Working with multiple skincare brands has afforded me the opportunity to develop a strong reputation as a therapist. Through regular feedback and consultation with my clients, constantly learning to upskill and evolve while moving with best practice, my clients have a trust in me and I believe it is my duty to provide them with the highest standard of service and care. As my clients began to reach out to me privately, I soon realised that I had developed a steady client-base which empowered me to take the leap of faith and become self-employed.

Re-Nu Skin & Beauty Clinic was then established in January 2020. A global pandemic was not on my business plan and twelve weeks later as the world 'closed down', the team and I were quickly forced to re-align our strategy in order to keep the company afloat. Through the support of loyal customers and my incredible team, we established an online consultation service. This included a lengthy consultation service via zoom, weekly check ins and support services as they continued or even perhaps, began their skincare journey. Furthermore, we realised our online retail portal was a valuable resource in facilitating these clients with what they needed so that they could get the best results. The results that we achieved during this time were significant and this is something that I am really proud of. Coincidentally, the pandemic brought some positive changes for clients; some clients continue to use this platform to achieve their skin goals at their own convenience.

Once we were safely able to work face to face, our client-base quickly grew alongside our reputation. Through investment in skincare technology and equipment, staff training and development while still maintaining that 'homely' atmosphere, Re-Nu had exceeded my expectations and business plan. A larger premises with an extra staff member was necessary. The hunt began for a suitable unit during these challenging times. Fortunately, I sourced a ground level unit in a prime location with nearby parking for clients which is also wheelchair accessible- something that was important to me. Previously we were in a second floor unit, and I knew that if we ever moved I wanted to ensure Re-Nu would be inclusive of all needs. A full retrofit and design of this unit was carried out and I thoroughly enjoyed the process and luckily had a fabulous team of tradespeople to bring my vision to life. This is our greatest achievement to date and I am so proud of Re-Nu, the team and how far our small business has grown. Adding to these strengths and achievements over the last couple of years include:

- Winning Phorest's '5 star salon experience' over three consecutive years.
- Being awarded 'Rose Gold status' by Alumier MD. This represents the fact that as a business with Alumier MD; we are ranked at the top by the company. Only 8 clinics out of over one hundred have received this status and we strive to uphold this through our service and constant upskilling.
- Increased our staffing by 100%.
- Completing the 'Growth Factor' programme with Richard Crawford Small. This is a business mentorship programme that allows me to continue my professional development and ensure the sustainability of my business.
- Making a large capital investment this year in a state of the art IPL skin system.
- Surviving the pandemic!

Over the next three years, we hope to continue our training and education in our field. Expanding the team will be another goal of Re-Nu as we hope to make further investments in our clients skin care needs. The story of Re-Nu so far would not be possible without the unending loyalty and hard work shown by the team and of course the support of loyal customers over the years. We hope that we can continue to provide a 5 star experience to our clients and a positive working environment for our team to excel and grow professionally.

Thank you for taking the time to read this (if you have managed to stay with me this far!!)

Niamh
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