How Breakout Beauty UK is championing the next generation of British beauty brands
Breakout Beauty UK is a fully funded accelerator created by Growth Studio to identify and fast-track Britain’s most exciting independent beauty brands. It celebrates confidence, performance, craftsmanship and, increasingly, entrepreneurship led by visionaries who are redefining the industry. It is supported by Boots, UK’s favourite beauty retailer*, who returns as primary anchor partner, alongside expert partners, TikTok Shop, HSBC Innovation Banking and Bird & Bird. The programme gives emerging founders unprecedented access to retail expertise, investment opportunities, media exposure and mentoring designed to transform promising businesses into household names.
Unlike traditional business competitions, Breakout Beauty UK focuses on the complete journey from innovative product to commercially successful brand.
Over an intensive ten-week programme, founders receive guidance from retail buyers, investors, marketing specialists and experienced entrepreneurs before pitching for significant commercial support packages that can include national Boots listings, marketing campaigns and TikTok Shop partnerships worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
For many entrepreneurs, access is the greatest obstacle. Getting onto the shelves of Britain’s largest beauty retailer or finding the right investors can take years. Breakout Beauty UK compresses that journey into a structured programme that removes many of the barriers independent founders traditionally face.
Rather than chasing trends, many of these founders are solving genuine consumer needs, from textured hair and inclusive skincare to sustainability, wellness and science-led formulations.
Breakout Beauty UK has selected 11 finalists across haircare, skincare, suncare and supplements, from more than 300 applicants:
- Aegle’s by Zoe Williams – Science-led skin health brand addressing the root causes of acne in women.
- BSSET by Ibrahim Abusamra & Mohammed Yaqub – Men’s haircare brand developed by founder & celebrity barber for curly, coily and wavy hair.
- Dussl by Fraser Wilson in Scotland – Premium, gender neutral skincare with 50 SPF for daily protection & moisture.
- KEATS by Lucinda Hart – Simplifying and decoding affordable skincare inspired by customers’ insights.
- MAYAH by Rebecca Heywood and Jessica Smith – Clinically tested, premium personal care created specifically for pregnancy and motherhood.
- Selkie by Cicely Coops – The UK’s only powder to liquid sustainable haircare brand with refillable containers.
- SHYNE by Alvin Mills – A clean grooming system for men with curly and afro textured hair.
- Skingredients by Jennifer Rock (“The Skin Nerd”) – An, education-based skin health system simplifying routines with real results.
- Skin Bunny by JP Lawrence – Under-eye product that reduces wrinkles, bags and dark circles fast.
- Stil by Tash Hagan – A mineral-based, planet-friendly sunscreen range made with natural ingredients for customers with sensitive skin , based on Tash’s experience with Crohn’s disease.
- That Good Hair by Paris Reveira – A plant based haircare brand for textured hair and sensitive scalps.
The judging panel included Growth Studio, Boots and investors, JamJar Investments, Joyance Partners and Interline Ventures who selected the final eleven brands. The cohort reflects the diversity shaping the future of beauty, with 63% female founders and over 36% of founders and co-founders representing Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
The winning brand and a runner-up will receive a commercial support package valued at approximately £850,000. The winner will also receive a retail launch into 50 Boots stores UK wide as well as gold tier marketing and executive mentorship support. TikTok Shop will provide dedicated business development support including dedicated account management, discounts and incentives.
The brands are also mentored by a group of successful beauty entrepreneurs: Susie Ma from Tropic Skincare, Lucie MacLeod, founder of Hair Syrup, Daisy Kelly, founder of Glow For It and Beauty Crop founder, Ning Cheah, as well as TV presenter Rochelle Humes.
We interviewed Grace Vernon – Expert, BBUK / Head of Boots Ignite, Foresight & Trends, Boots UK and Paul Finch – Co-founder of Growth Studio and Chief Architect, Breakout Beauty UK to get their insights:
What are the top 3 things you would look in a new beauty brand?
Grace:
First, we look for a great product, because it’s easy to make something go viral and to get someone to buy it one time, but actually to get customer to be loyal and to stick with the brand, you have to have a great product. So number one is a great product.
Number two is a brand that resonates with customers and knows how to resonate with customers. So be that through a physical retail execution, like the packaging is so important to make sure it really portrays what the product is, because when you don’t have the benefit of a video to go with it, it has to sell itself on a shelf. So really knowing as a brand, know who you are as a brand, what you’re trying to deliver, and how you do that across all channels.
The third is being really clear on your launch distribution and scaling strategy. So it’s often the first question we ask a brand is: ‘What is your scaling strategy? Do you want to start with, a small amount of stores, build it, and then grow and scale over time? Is your plan to go big bang launch in one?’ And a brand has to know what that looks like and know what’s needed in order to do that, because obviously more stores means more stock, which means cash flow.
And just being good to work with. We work so closely with brands, being collaborative, being good partners and just having that strong relationship.”
What mistakes would prevent promising brands from making it into Boots shelves?
Grace:
“Underestimating what it means to launch into retail. Cash flow is a really important part of it, which is something we support with as much as we can. But I think there is very much a trend right now for brands wanting to be bootstrapped, which is amazing. Every brand decides how they want to finance their businesses. But scaling into retail, isn’t cheap because of the stock, mainly the stock holding, so being mindful of that is important.
I think the biggest mistake is thinking that the launch into retail is the end goal. The launch into retail is the start point. Seeing your products on a shelf is the best feeling because you see it in a physical store. But actually, that’s really when the hard work starts because you might have that launch moment where it’s the big bang and everyone’s aware of your brand, but you want them to still be aware 3 months later, 3 years later. So it’s about keeping that awareness and that traffic to driving people into store because of the bar for physical space as we can’t make space out of the stores. For a brand to launch, another brand has to go. So the bar is just getting higher, it’s getting bigger, so you have to maintain that sales performance to keep the listing. So just constantly being aware of that and pushing yourself.”
Paul:
“We assess founders from a slightly different perspective from the programme. So for me, it always starts with the founder. The one thing I look at is who the founder is, what makes them special, what makes them unique, are they able to listen, can they work with you, a bank, customers, because a great founder with a mid product can make it a great one, but an average founder can’t. So it starts with the founder.
I think the second one is, do they have some form of unfair advantage either in the product, the distribution strategy, how they connect with customers to make them loyal and make them buy more. I believe the biggest mistakes we see is that expectation that once you’re on the shelf, the retailer takes over and pushes and drives sales. And that’s not the case. Getting on the shelf is actually the relatively easy bit, but you have to take a very different business model, very different operational setup. You need new people and a lot of cash to migrate from a D2C or a TikTok brand into a retail brand. It’s a completely different kind of pitch.
And the third one is people don’t really consider the unit economics of scaling into retail. And when you’re an early-stage brand, you don’t have the profit margins, you don’t have the negotiating power to buy things at lower cost, you don’t have the resource and ties to bring in the right people. And retail has to change all of that. The business has to shift and change fundamentally. I don’t think people really recognise how big a shift that is to their business.”
Which Beauty trends will define the next 12 month?
Grace:
“I would say the holistic approach to beauty. So we’re seeing that, you know, wellness is very much integrated into people’s lifestyles now. So not only are they using amazing topical skincare, but they’re also taking collagen supplements and they’re drinking electrolytes in the hope that it will also improve the hydration in their skin. And, also we’re seeing that kind of convergence with the aesthetics industry, and GLP-1s are really impacting the beauty and wellness category as well. So I think it’s very much that prevention and protection and lifestyle approach to beauty and wellness. It’s not one or the other, it’s kind of how it all comes together and how lifestyle then impacts your beauty as well.”
Paul:
“GLP-1, I think it’s going to drive a lot of trends in terms of people’s routines, the impact on skin, hair, health, everything else. I believe we’re only starting to see other markets that have really cottoned on to the impact of GLP-1s. I think the brands we’re seeing in the UK are a little bit behind the curve.
And I think the second one is just that convergence of wellness and beauty as well, particularly on people’s routines and how that’s going to impact how they ritualise beauty and wellness.”
The beauty industry is evolving rapidly. Consumers increasingly discover products through creators on TikTok before ever walking into a shop. At the same time, shoppers are seeking authenticity. Founder stories matter. Ingredient transparency matters. Community matters. This changing landscape makes initiatives like Breakout Beauty UK particularly relevant. Rather than rewarding the largest marketing budgets, the programme identifies brands with originality, commercial potential and the resilience to scale. Building a beauty company demands resilience, strategic thinking and continual refinement.
Applications for the 2026 programme have now closed, with a new cohort already embarking on their growth journey. If last year’s results are any indication, we can expect several of today’s emerging founders to become tomorrow’s best-known British beauty brands.
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