Birmingham hair care company ‘grows greener’ with new funding from Lloyds Bank

A Birmingham based hair care company has transformed her own hair journey into an international sustainable brand designed to help people embrace their natural curls, with support from Lloyds Bank.

The now CEO and founder of Flora & Curl, Rose Ovensehi, decided to stop chemically treating her textured hair in 2011 after her scalp was damaged from years of processing and straightening her hair. 

Looking for a more natural product and struggling to find many on the market, she then began creating her own DIY haircare recipes, documenting the journey on her own blog. After asking her followers “what is your biggest hair problem?”more than 300 responses cited dry hair and breakage.

This was a “turning point” for Rose. Realising there was a more widespread need for natural products for textured hair, Rose decided to explore how she could turn creating recipes at her mum’s kitchen table into a business.

Rose experimented and formulated a streamlined line of nourishing hair care products for textured hair, using botanical and herbal ingredients. Rose transitioned from working in transport planning, and into running the business full time with the launch of three products.

While order numbers continued to grow, 100 per cent year-on-year, Rose approached Lloyds Bank, securing an Invoice Finance facility. This allowed the business to fund larger orders with longer lead times, supporting Flora & Curl’s long-term goal of growing by 30 per cent year-on-year.

Today, the collection has expanded and includes mists, detangling lotions, shampoos, and conditioners and are available in more than 500 Boots stores across the UK. The business also sells via its website to customers to more than 80 countries including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands with plans to expand its retail placements in the US in the works.

A 16-strong team are now behind the brand, with positions for two additional employees to take on marketing and operational roles currently live. 

Rose Ovensehi, founder and CEO of Flora & Curl, commented: “Our recent rebrand is testament to the power of listening to feedback. Because of this, we’ve been able to offer our customers what they want and create a progressive sustainable plan that makes a difference, a real win-win.

“When orders started to increase, I knew I needed financial support to take Flora & Curl to the next level. The support from Lloyds Bank has allowed me to take on much larger orders and build the brand on an international level.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →