Janet Milner - Walker

An Interesting New Chapter for Boots.

Having worked in beauty buying at Boots earlier in my career, I've watched the retailer evolve through many different chapters.

So, the news that Wittington Investments, the holding company of Canada's Weston family, is acquiring Boots in a US$8.9bn deal is particularly interesting to me.

This is another significant change for Boots, just over a year after it became a standalone business following the acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance by Sycamore Partners and Stefano Pessina.

But what interests me most isn't the ownership change. It's what the new owners will do with the opportunity.

The Weston family brings significant experience across retail, pharmacy and beauty through businesses including Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada, as well as previous ownership of Selfridges.

And Boots has some very powerful assets to build on: A trusted British brand with a huge customer base, a significant store estate, deep expertise in pharmacy and healthcare and a strong position in beauty and digital.

The new owners have already talked about further investment and a long-term focus.

For beauty, that could mean opportunities to rethink everything from the product mix and customer experience to innovation, NPD and how beauty works across physical and digital retail.

So, the question isn't simply: Who owns Boots?
It's: What will Boots become next? And I can’t wait to see how this unfolds.

There is a stage in building a beauty business that can feel incredibly uncomfortable.

You have the idea.

You can see the brand in your head.

You’re excited about the product.

You’ve probably spent hours thinking about the name, packaging, ingredients and Instagram.

But will people actually buy it?

Many founders believe they need more certainty.

More research.

More opinions.

Another supplier meeting.

Another packaging option.

Another conversation.

But sometimes what you actually need is to test the right things with the right people.

Before committing to significant time and money.

Before building a huge range. Before investing heavily into marketing.

Before assuming your customer will love what you love.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start.

But you do need to know what to validate.

Because confidence doesn’t come from guessing.

It comes from evidence.

✨ What a wonderful evening with Aromaria.

On Wednesday, we brought the Beauty to Life community together for a very special evening of fragrance, creativity and connection at Aromaria’s beautiful flagship store in Piccadilly.

From exploring different fragrance notes and accords to creating our own bespoke scent, it was such a lovely opportunity to step away from the day-to-day and experience the creativity behind fragrance for ourselves.

Here’s to more evenings like this — bringing great people together, discovering new brands and creating meaningful connections. 🥂✨

A GREAT BEAUTY PRODUCT STARTS LONG BEFORE THE FORMULA.
One of the most common misconceptions in beauty is that product development begins with an idea for a product and ends when the product is ready to manufacture.

In reality, there are some important questions to answer first.

Who is the product for?

What consumer need does it address?

Why would someone choose it over the alternatives?

How does it fit within the brand's positioning and wider portfolio?

What price can the market support?

Can the product deliver the margins the business needs?

And where will it be sold?

These questions matter whether you're developing your first product, expanding an existing range or reformulating a bestseller.

A product can be beautifully formulated and packaged, but if the proposition, pricing or commercial strategy isn't right, growth becomes much harder.

At Bespoke Advantage, we bring together brand strategy, consumer understanding, product development and commercial thinking to help beauty businesses make better decisions from concept to shelf.

The objective isn't simply to create another product. It's to create a product with a clear purpose and a credible opportunity to succeed.

Planning a new product or reviewing your existing portfolio? Get in touch if you are looking for expertise and support.

YOUR 2027 STRATEGY STARTS NOW.
As we enter the final quarter of 2026, now is the time to look ahead and start planning for a successful 2027.

The strongest businesses don't wait until January to decide what comes next. They use this time to reflect, set clear priorities and build a strategy for growth.

Whether you're refining your brand positioning, developing new products, preparing for a launch, reviewing your portfolio, exploring new markets or planning international expansion, the decisions you make today will shape the opportunities available to you tomorrow.

At Bespoke Advantage, we work with beauty brands and businesses to turn ambition into action, helping you build the right foundations for growth from strategy and branding to product development and market entry.

Planning your next move? Get in touch to discuss how we can support your business in preparing for the year ahead.

Let's make 2027 a year of purposeful growth.

WHEN IS IT TIME TO REFORMULATE AN EXISTING BEAUTY PRODUCT?

A product can be successful today and still need to evolve tomorrow.

But how do you know when it's time to reformulate?

There are several reasons a beauty brand might need to revisit an existing formula.
✨ Consumer expectations have changed. Your customers may be looking for different ingredients, textures, benefits or product experiences.
✨ Performance needs to improve. Customer feedback or product testing may highlight opportunities to enhance the formula.
✨ Your brand is evolving. As your positioning develops, your existing products may need to better reflect your brand promise and target customer.
✨ Costs or supply chains need reviewing. Ingredient availability, manufacturing costs and margin pressures may mean exploring alternative formulations.
✨ Regulatory or market requirements have changed. A product may need to be reviewed to meet the applicable requirements in the markets where it is sold.

But here's the important point: reformulation shouldn't happen simply for the sake of change.

Before revisiting a formula, you need to understand what isn't working, what you want to improve and what the change needs to deliver commercially.

Will it improve the consumer experience? Strengthen differentiation? Protect margins? Support entry into a new market?

And just as importantly, how will you validate the new formula without compromising the qualities your customers already love?

At Bespoke Advantage, we look at product development through both a consumer and commercial lens, ensuring product decisions support the wider brand and business strategy.

Sometimes growth doesn't mean creating something new. It means making what you already have even better.

Are you considering reformulating an existing product or developing something new?

The best business conversations often don’t take place behind a desk or inside an office.

Building a business is about more than what you do. It's also about the people you do it with.

In business, relationships matter. The people you meet, the conversations you have and the connections you nurture can open doors to opportunities you might never have anticipated.

Some of the most valuable conversations take place when you are socialising and sharing ideas in beautiful surroundings.

Today, we headed to the infamous The Wolseley in Mayfair for lunch, scintillating conversations and the opportunity to bring these ideas to life.

What if the future of beauty was built by people who connected, shared ideas and opened doors for each other?

That's the idea behind Beauty to Life.

I've spent more than 20 years working in beauty.

And one thing I've learned is that opportunities rarely happen in isolation.

They happen through:
✨ Conversations
✨ Introductions
✨ Knowledge
✨ Collaboration
✨ Mentorship
✨ Partnerships
✨ Community

There are so many talented people in our industry.
Founders with incredible ideas.
Brand builders.
Product developers.
Retailers.
Experts.
Investors.
Creators.
People entering the industry for the first time.
And people who have spent decades shaping it.

I wanted to create a place where those people could come together.

Not just to learn.
Not just to network.

But to connect, collaborate and create opportunities. That is Beauty to Life.

A growing community for people shaping the future of beauty.

And we're only getting started. ✨

If you're building, launching, growing or working in beauty, I'd love to know: What would you most want from a beauty community?

Thinking about taking your beauty brand into a new market?

Don't start by asking: “Who can get me a meeting with a buyer?”

Start here.
Before entering a new market, I would want to answer at least five questions:
1. Is there a genuine consumer opportunity?
Not “people in this market like skincare.”
What specific consumer need are you solving?

2. Is the brand right for the market?
A brand that works beautifully in one country may need a different proposition, channel strategy or positioning elsewhere.

3. Which route to market makes sense?
Retailer?
Distributor?
Direct-to-consumer?
Travel retail?
Marketplace?
Partnership?
There isn't one answer for every brand.

4. Is the commercial model viable?
Margins, pricing, logistics, marketing investment, retailer expectations and volumes all matter.

5. Why should anyone choose you?
This is the question I think brands often underestimate.

A buyer isn't simply looking for another product. They're looking for something that can create value for their customer and their business.

Market entry isn't about “getting into a country.”

It's about identifying the right opportunity and building the strategy around it.

That's the difference between expansion and simply selling somewhere new.