Inglot Ireland plunged into the red last year after opening new stores

The Westmeath-based franchise of the cosmetics brand recently opened a unit in the UK.

By Conor McMahon Deputy editor, Fora

THE IRISH FRANCHISE of cosmetic brand Inglot plunged into the red last year after opening several new stores around the country.

Recently filed accounts for the Westmeath-based outfit show that it lost more than €123,800 in 2016, with accumulated profits shrinking to just over €580,300. The company didn’t declare sales figures in the abridged accounts.

The documents show that Inglot employed an average of 244 people last year, mainly in its retail wing. That was 125 more people on the books than in 2015.

Inglot Ireland was co-founded by Jane Swarbrigg with her mother, Geraldine, and brother, Peter. The first shop opened in Dublin’s Liffey Valley Shopping Centre eight years ago.

jane inglot Inglot Ireland's Jane Swarbrigg
Source: Fergal Phillips

The accounts show that Geraldine and Thomas Swarbrigg are majority shareholders, each owning 40% of the company, with Jane and Peter Swarbrigg taking 10% each. Directors remuneration in 2016 dipped from €160,700 to €97,680.

Social media

Today, Inglot Ireland operates 17 stores across the Republic and the UK, with the most recent shop opening in Newcastle, England, in October. The company also runs an online store, which was recently upgraded.

With hundreds of thousands of followers across its Facebook and Instagram accounts, Inglot has picked up a number of gongs for its social media campaigns and has been championed by Irish beauty bloggers and so-called ‘influencers’.

It won the ‘best in digital’ prize for the second year in a row at the recent Retail Excellence Ireland annual awards.

Jane Swarbrigg told Fora earlier this year that competition in the beauty industry was “fierce”, so Inglot Ireland focused on marketing and other tactics that would differentiate it from rivals.

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