Beloved British skincare brand to DISAPPEAR from shop shelves after 25 years as consumer giant pulls plug
Unilever said it was a 'difficult decision" to dismantle the British brand
WASHED AWAY Beloved British skincare brand to DISAPPEAR from shop shelves after 25 years as consumer giant pulls plug
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
A BELOVED British beauty brand is to disappear from shop shelves, Unilever has confirmed.
Beauty brand REN Clean Skincare is being cut after a quarter of a century with its parent company citing 'internal factors' and 'market challenges'.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
4
Its legendary Ready Steady Glo AHA tonic developed a fanatical following
Credit: supplied
4
Unilever is a massive consumer conglomerate worth over £89bn
Credit: Reuters
4
The company vaguely blamed internal and market difficulties for the closure
Credit: Reuters
Consumer behemoth Unilever announced that it took the 'difficult decision' after realising that the brand was 'unable to sustain success in the long term.'
Whilst there is no set date for the sensitive skincare brand's closure, they predicted that the brand will be terminated by the end of the year.
Last August, Sky reported that the consumer giant was trying to offload both REN Skincare and Kate Somerville, but neither has been sold.
A spokesperson said: 'We are proud of the REN team for all they have accomplished during 25 years of business, putting 'clean' skin care on the agenda and creating positive change for both people and planet and thank them as they continue to support us through this closure.'
The pioneering brand which was ahead of the 'clean beauty' trend was founded by Rob Calcraft and Anthony Buck in 2000.
Some of its prestigious products, such as Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Toner (£30,) and the Evercalm range (£75), developed a cult following.
Its innovative approach to skincare attracted the attention of Unilver's prestige Brand director, Vasiliki Petrou.
Unilever bought the company for an undisclosed amount in 2015.
Under Petrou's mentorship, the 2023 turnover ballooned to £1.2bn.
However, last year she left the department, and almost immediately, profits started to dip.
After she left, REN reduced the number of its skincare products by a third in an attempt to 'modernise' and crack the US market.
But just last August, trouble was in the works as the division reported 'muted' profits.
Under Petrou Unilever's Prestige department also gobbled up other clean beauty brands such as Dermalogica and Kate Somerville, which are currently still available.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Spectator
31 minutes ago
- Spectator
Northern Ireland is still paying a heavy price for Brexit
This week heralds the arrival in Northern Ireland of yet more overregulation, bureaucratic overreach, and political incompetence. No, Keir Starmer isn't making an unannounced visit to Belfast. From this month, many thousands of food products imported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will have to display warnings on their packaging highlighting that these goods are not to be brought into the European Union. The reason why is essentially a bungled Brexit deal for which thousands of business – and millions of customers – will pay the price. It is yet another reason for British firms to stop doing business in Northern Ireland The Windsor Framework – the result of the UK's Northern Ireland-focused post-Brexit legal agreement with the EU – ensured that Northern Ireland remained within the EU single market for goods. This meant that products can flow freely throughout the island as no hard border exists between Northern Ireland and the Republic. At least that's what was promised in theory. In reality, this soft border has made trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland increasingly difficult. Confusing and unworkable regulations have stymied the flow of goods to Northern Ireland as checks on arrival take an increasingly long time, packaging requirements are different, and costs are increased. From October 2023, meat products entering Northern Ireland had to be labelled as being 'Not for EU' in order to ensure they weren't being sold in the Republic of Ireland; these rules were expanded to include dairy products from October 2024. And now, from this month, the scope of these regulations will be drastically increased as the Windsor Framework's implementation reaches its final phase. Packaged fruit, vegetables, and herbs; fresh, frozen, and processed fish; honey; eggs; chilled, frozen, or shelf-stable composite products, such as ready meals and jars of sauce; all will be subject to new rules which change their packaging to ensure no Pot Noodle bound for Belfast is sold south of the border. This matters because it is yet another reason for British companies to stop doing business in Northern Ireland. As Stuart Machin, the CEO of Marks & Spencer, explained on Friday, this regulatory expansion just adds 'yet another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape for food retailers like M&S.' Machin went on to state that over a thousand more M&S products will require alternate packaging specifically tailored for Northern Ireland, while an additional four hundred products will have to undergo extra checks in what has become known as the 'Red Lane' – the customs channel for goods deemed at risk of entering the EU. In short, Machin said, it's 'bureaucratic madness'. All of these additional regulations in Northern Ireland undermine the idea of the Union, dissuading British businesses from offering goods and services in a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It has had a measurable impact, too, as the Office for National Statistics found recently. Between 2020 – the final year before the Northern Ireland Protocol on the Brexit withdrawal agreement came into effect – and the start of this year, the percentage of retail, wholesale, and car repair businesses in Great Britain which sold goods into Northern Ireland had decreased from 17.5 per cent to only 12.4 per cent; the percentage of manufacturing businesses which sold to Northern Ireland decreased from 20.1 per cent to 12.9 per cent. The issue of the effectual trade border in the Irish Sea is a politically contentious one in Northern Ireland. It highlights the difference in treatment of people in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of the United Kingdom – raising questions about whether the initial idea of Brexit as 'taking back control' ever materialised. Jim Allister, a Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) MP, and one of the fiercest critics of the Windsor Framework, said that British businesses 'will have to play by EU rules to trade within their own country. That's a fundamental breach of sovereignty.' I spoke to another elected representative from the TUV about the new rules, who decried them as little more than 'ridiculous and unnecessary bureaucracy forced upon us', highlighting that 'Northern Ireland did not get the Brexit the United Kingdom voted for as a nation'. Many of these issues could quite easily be solved if a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal were to be signed between the UK and the EU; this would align the regulations between the two bodies and make trade easier. Naturally, however, this also goes against the ideals of what Brexit was portrayed to be, as while it doesn't exactly hand over our sovereignty on the issue, it does ensure the UK and EU are treading the same line. Labour announced a deal on this back in May, however this has yet to materialise and negotiations are, allegedly, still ongoing. Given Starmer's record of negotiating, it is not difficult to imagine how little say we might have over our own internal trade regulations as a result; the Prime Minister is no stranger to dismantling British sovereignty, as Chagos and Gibraltar show. In the mean time, internal trade within the United Kingdom is likely to get harder before it gets easier. If the past decade of politicians were supposed to be acting in favour of British interests, they are doing a good job of hiding it.
Reuters
38 minutes ago
- Reuters
Indonesian annual inflation at 1.87% in June, just above expectations
JAKARTA, July 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia's annual inflation rate was 1.87% in June, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday, just above market expectations. A Reuters poll of analysts had expected an annual inflation rate of 1.80% in June. Bank Indonesia has a target range of 1.5% to 3.5% for inflation. Core inflation data will be released later on Tuesday. The central bank paused its easing cycle at a policy review last month, but said there was still room to cut rates given moderate inflation and the need to support economic activity.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Indonesian exports rise 9.7% in May, statistics bureau says
JAKARTA, July 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia's exports rose 9.68% in May from a year earlier to $24.61 billion supported by increased shipments of vegetable oils and steel, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday. The increase in exports was higher than the median forecast in a Reuters poll of a 0.40% rise. The trade surplus was $4.3 billion in May, increasing from April's figure of around $160 million, which was the smallest monthly surplus in five years. Imports rose 4.14% on a yearly basis to $20.31 billion, stronger than the median forecast of a 0.90% rise in the poll, on increased shipments of capital goods and consumer goods. The bureau is due to release May inflation and other economic indicators later on Tuesday.
