After working in the beauty industry for 20 years, Michelle Feeney was approached by private equity investor LDC in 2007 to join self tan business St Tropez as CEO. 

After working in the beauty industry for 20 years, Michelle Feeney was approached by private equity investor LDC in 2007 to join self tan business St Tropez as CEO.

How would you describe St Tropez when you took over?

My task was to turnaround the business. When I came, we were making £50 million in sales a year and we had a good presence in Boots, which is still a major part of out business, but we were loss-making in the US and the brand had lost momentum.

What changes have you made?

We made major alterations to our distribution. Our web business is growing and 30 per cent of our revenue now comes from supplying spas and salons. We’ve just gone into South Africa with a distribution partner and we’re looking to expand into Canada. We’ve also upgraded our packaging, from a tired image of a woman on a yacht in a white hat to a more modern shot.

How has the recession affected your business?

The self tan market in the UK is growing. We didn’t suffer during the downturn, because people are more aware of the dangers of being in the sun and fewer people are going on holiday. It’s different in the US, because they had a more painful recession so sales ground to a halt. We now have a much smaller US sales team and we’ve gone into the black for the first time in the history of the company.

What’s the biggest challenge that you faced?

There have been a lot of negative connotations about fake tan and orange wags. That’s why we’ve tried to move into a more health-conscious message. We recently teamed up with MP Sian James to lobby the government over the use of sunbeds. At the moment people of any age can use coin-operated sunbeds, which can cause cancer. Sian is hoping to bring a bill before Parliament next month which restricts sunbed use for people under 16.