Yuliya Price, Founder of B&K Beauty Boutique

B&K Beauty Boutique is a luxury salon located on a leafy suburban street in St John’s Wood, North London. It’s an obviously popular spot with a loyal following – the light and airy establishment is often packed with customers receiving a large range of beauty treatments. It offers the latest state-of-the-art procedures and has a charming garden area which clients can enjoy in the summer months.

Yuliya Price took ownership of B&K in 2012. The salon was previously based in a cramped shop in Marylebone, where she had been working as the manager for a number of years. After Yuliya took charge the shop went from strength to strength, significantly expanding its customer base, and saw steadily increasing profits. To keep up with demand for appointments Yuliya needed to find larger premises, but this proved to be more difficult than she first thought.

After finding the perfect shop in nearby St Johns Wood she needed to act quickly to secure the deal. However, despite B&K’s impressive sales figures, Yuliya was unable securing bank funding for the move. That’s when she turned to iwoca.

“iwoca has alleviated what has always been my biggest problem: finance.”

“The application process was so easy, and the response I got was incredibly quick” Yuliya tells us. “Everybody that I spoke to was really helpful, especially my account manager Dean.” Yuliya applied on a Friday, and had the funding for the move by Saturday morning; as such, she was able to put in an offer on the new store straight away.

Over the next few weeks she moved the business to it’s new home. Since relocating, Yuliya has managed to both retain her old customer base and makea big splash in her new neighborhood. The extra space has given her more room to offer a varied range of high-tech treatments which are being installed in the coming weeks. Yuliya’s excited about what’s coming up next for the business: “once the renovation of the salon is finished my next big aim is to refurbish one of the rooms, turning it into a luxury sauna.”

As part of this plan she has purchased a highly advanced ultrasound cavitation machine, something she never would have been able to afford from the trade in the old location. What’s in the future for Yuliya and B&K Beauty Boutique? “In the next few years I’d like to open four or five new salons – my dream is to open up shop in the Westminster area.”