A Guisborough businesswoman has benefited from £10,000 funding and expert advice from Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council’s Business Growth Team after adding a new training academy to her thriving business.
In 1995, Kay Gartland left her native Guisborough for a six-week visit to Houston, Texas, with her oil worker husband Michael. The short-term trip turned into an 18-year residency, which ended four years ago when the couple returned home.
Now back in Guisborough, Kay is running a thriving cosmetic procedure business.
The Genesis Aesthetics Clinic offers non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as dermaplaning (a professional exfoliation treatment), plasma lifting (a technique which uses plasma to stimulate the fibres in the skin to create a facelift-like effect without surgery), peels, teeth whitening, mole removals and more.
Non-invasive procedures
Kay, 55, said: “I’d previously worked for a cosmetic company and while living in Houston I worked for a plastic surgeon.
“I became more and more interested in non-invasive procedures and enrolled on an in-depth training course.
“It was really intense. We spent a year on anatomy alone and months being instructed on the highest hygiene standards.
“After coming back home to Guisborough, our daughter Meg was grown up and attending university so I decided to set up my own business.
“I just started small from home. I didn’t expect I’d end up running a proper business in my hometown.”
Manager Fiona Robinson and business owner Kay Gartland at the Genesis Aesthetics Clinic in Guisborough
Now an accredited trainer for dermaplaning, Kay needed a premises which provided a suitable training environment in addition to treatment rooms for practical based teaching.
Due to the addition of the training academy to her business, Kay was eligible for a £10,000 grant from the Council’s High Street Support Scheme to pay for a complete overhaul of an upstairs unit in Chaloner Mews.
£10,000 High Street Support Scheme grant
Kay commented: “My old base just wasn’t big enough to include training on top of my treatments.
“The new unit had potential but needed a lot work. With the help of the High Street Support Scheme, we gutted and completely renovated the inside.
“We put up participation walls, installed a new laboratory-grade ceiling, fitted sinks, plastered and kitted out the training room.
“I seriously doubt we would be working out of this unit without the scheme.
“Sadly there are a lot of ‘back street’ cosmetic businesses out there. Unqualified people without any training are carrying out procedures which can have terrible affects. We’ve heard about people who are running businesses after watching online videos of procedures.
“I have to fix a lot of poor work here and have dealt with some very distressed people.
“The government is looking to change the laws around cosmetic procedures and I really welcome that. The more qualified the beauticians that are out there, the less customers there are being scarred.”
A huge help
Kay already employs a business manager and a second beauty therapist will start working for the company by spring to carry out the treatments while Kay is training new therapists.
Manager Fiona Robinson is fulsome in her praise for the Council’s Business Growth Team. She said: “The team have been a huge help.
“They helped with the business plan and gave me some great ideas about how to manage the books. They also challenged us and pushed us to consider every aspect of how we were running the business to make sure we are in as good a position as possible for Genesis Aesthetics to continue being successful.”
Go Big or Go Home
Councillor Bob Norton, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, said: “It’s not every day someone brings a specialist skill from the US to run a business in Redcar and Cleveland, so we’re thrilled to be able to have helped Kay with her business.
“Our High Street Support Scheme exists for projects just like this – to give businesses a helping hand and give people more reason to shop local and support our economy. Kay was able to benefit from the scheme because she added a new, accredited training to her business offer. It’s just the kind of business development we want to see in Redcar and Cleveland.
“I wish Kay nothing but success for the future of her business. Texans say ‘Go Big or Go Home’. Well, Kay has done both!”
Get in touch
Find out more about the business support offered by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council call 01642 444494 or email: placeinvestment@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk
Genesis Aesthetics Clinic can be contacted on 07983 136 714, email at hello@genesisguisborough.co.uk or online at www.genesisguisborough.co.uk.
