From Fragrance Bay to Beauty Empire: The Rise of a Manchester Success Story
Beauty Bay's story began in 1999 when brothers Arron and David Gabbie launched a modest online fragrance business called Fragrance Bay from Greater Manchester. Over the following two decades, the business transformed dramatically, pivoting from fragrances to become one of the UK's most prominent online cosmetics multi-retailers. Stocking over 200 global brands — from Anastasia Beverly Hills and The Ordinary to Ariana Grande and Clinique — Beauty Bay built a loyal following particularly among Gen Z beauty enthusiasts, eventually reaching an estimated five million customers worldwide.
Operating exclusively online and headquartered at Exchange Quay in Salford, Beauty Bay capitalised on the seismic shift in consumer shopping habits towards e-commerce. The business employed around 65 people and developed its own private-label range, By Beauty Bay, which the founders saw as a key growth pillar for the future. At its pandemic-era peak, the company reported revenues of £134 million in the year to March 2021, cementing its position as a genuine force in the UK's competitive beauty retail landscape.
A Post-Pandemic Hangover and Years of Financial Turbulence
The euphoria of lockdown-era online shopping proved difficult to sustain. As physical retail reopened and consumers returned to high streets, Beauty Bay's revenues fell sharply — tumbling by 31% from £134 million to £93 million in the year to March 2022. Gross profit nearly halved, dropping 54% to £12.9 million, and the company posted a pre-tax loss of £9.3 million for that period. Beauty Bay acknowledged the decline was "primarily driven by a return to more normalised levels of customer acquisition and orders post-Covid," following an exceptional surge in new customers during lockdown. 3
The financial turbulence continued into 2023. Revenues slipped further to £75.5 million, and the company recorded an operating loss of £5.5 million — a significant blow that forced the founders to reconsider the business's strategic direction. By the year to March 2024, there were tentative signs of recovery: revenues nudged back up to £78.1 million, a 3.4% increase, and the business returned to a modest operating profit of just over £1 million. Yet with total equity of only around £1.8 million and current assets of approximately £15.9 million, the financial foundations remained fragile and vulnerable to any further deterioration in trading conditions.
A Series of Failed Deals Before the Administration Filing
The Gabbie brothers had long harboured ambitions beyond simply running an online retailer. At one point, they had targeted a full stock market flotation — an IPO that would have valued the business handsomely and given it a platform for international expansion. Those plans were shelved in May 2022 as inflation began biting into the cosmetics market and appetite for public listings cooled sharply across the sector.
In 2022, the brothers pivoted to exploring an outright sale, hiring advisers to run a formal process seeking a strategic buyer or investment partner. That process, which also involved US-based Threadstone Capital — the firm that had advised Cult Beauty on its £275 million acquisition by THG in 2021 — ultimately failed to produce a transaction. Fast forward to January 2026 and Beauty Bay once again hired advisers, this time restructuring firm Interpath Advisory, to conduct a new strategic review. Sources indicated the company was seeking a buyer or investment partner to stabilise the business and fund the expansion of its By Beauty Bay own-label range — but again, no deal materialised before the situation became critical.
The Administration Notice: What It Means and What Happens Next
On 18 February 2026, Beauty Bay filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, taking its website offline and replacing it with a holding page reading: "We'll Be Back Soon. BEAUTY BAY is offline right now, we'll be back shortly." The filing provides the company with a crucial 10-day moratorium — a window during which creditors cannot pursue any legal action against the business, giving the directors breathing space to continue exploring all available options. In a statement, the company said: "Like many other companies operating across the retail space, we've been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the past 12 months. Cost inflation and fragile consumer confidence have had a heavy impact on consumer spending."
The notice of intention to appoint administrators does not automatically mean the business will enter full administration or close permanently. During the 10-day moratorium, management and advisers can still conclude a rescue deal — whether a sale of the business as a going concern, a fresh injection of capital, or a restructuring agreement with creditors. However, if no viable solution is found within that window, the appointment of formal administrators would follow, at which point an insolvency practitioner would take control and seek to realise value from the business's assets. For Beauty Bay's 65 employees and the millions of customers who rely on it for their beauty products, the outcome of that window will be decisive.
Beauty Bay's Collapse Reflects a Wider Crisis Gripping UK Retail
Beauty Bay is far from alone in its struggles. The UK retail sector has been battered by a perfect storm of rising costs, persistent inflation, and a consumer base that — despite nominal wage growth — remains cautious about discretionary spending. Online-only retailers have been particularly exposed, as the structural advantages they enjoyed during the pandemic have eroded while overheads, fulfilment costs, and digital marketing spend have all risen sharply. The beauty sector itself, once considered relatively recession-proof thanks to the so-called "lipstick effect," has not been immune to these pressures.
Just weeks before Beauty Bay's administration notice, fellow cosmetics brand Barry M — a business with a turnover of £17.4 million — also collapsed into administration, before being acquired by Warpaint London for just £1.4 million. That deal underscores both the appetite that still exists for beauty assets and the dramatically reduced valuations that distressed businesses can expect. Whether Beauty Bay attracts a similarly opportunistic buyer, or whether a more substantial strategic investor emerges to rescue the full business and its brand portfolio, remains to be seen. What is clear is that the era of easy online growth in beauty retail is over — and companies without robust financial foundations are paying a very steep price.