Following the inaugural Dove Spa opening in March last year in the UK town of Reigate, plans have been revealed to roll out the concept to around 100 sites across the UK and Ireland.

The initial idea for the Dove Spa model was conceived by Dove’s parent company Unilever in the US in early 2002, but it was never trialled as it was decided that the concept would work much better in the UK.

With the Reigate property, Unilver intends to build further on the goodwill and mass-market appeal generated by Dove’s recent Real Beauty campaign to make its entry into the spa industry a success.

Over £2m (US$3.7m, 2.9m euro) was spent on developing a professional spa product range and refurbishing and designing the 2,000sq ft (186sq m) site – previously an independent beauty salon.

Dove Spa offers a two-step treatment diagnosis. This begins with a detailed consultation focusing on the client’s lifestyle and treatment expectations. Secondly, a diagnostic machine tests the skin for elasticity, sebum and moisture levels, as well as pigmentation. Following this customers can choose from a selection of ‘off-the-peg’ facial or, with guidance from a therapist, can opt for a bespoke treatment suited to their needs.

Another USP of the spa is its ‘time flexible’ approach, whereby instead of booking a specific combination of treatments, customers book a time slot and decide what they want on the day. Facials are currently the most popular treatment, accounting for 40 per cent of bookings.

Perhaps significantly, all of Dove Spa’s customers are local. Women make up 90 per cent of visitors and the over-30 age group is the most dominant.

Dove Spa’s operations are being managed by Serve Health & Beauty, the parent company of Re-Aqua – a salon and day spa brand with 30 sites in the UK.

Under the agreement, Serve will hold the licensing rights to the Dove Spa brand in the UK and Ireland.

Serve’s chief executive, Suki Kalirai, already has four other possible sites lined up for the UK Dove Spa rollout, although he says that no definite decisions will be made until he sees the six-month performance indicators for Reigate.

In the long-term, Kalirai’s goals are more ambitious. He said: “There are currently 12,000 salons and spas in the UK marketplace – so to have a big presence we’d need about 100 sites, five years down the line. Franchise agreements are something we may consider.

“If everything is successful in the UK, then Ireland would be our next port of call. Europe and the US also have gaps in their marketplace, although these fall outside of Serve’s domain. However, Unilever is a company that has an abundance of resources internationally and Dove is a global brand – so I’m sure nothing is being ruled out.” Details: www.dovespa.co.uk

See also Spa Business 2006,Q2: Keeping It Real p34