Revolution Beauty appoints new US President amid accounting fiasco

By Alessandro Carrara | Published: 25-Jan-2023

Sara Staniford previously headed up Revolution Beauty as Group Retail Director for its London operations

Revolution Beauty has named Sara Staniford as its new US President.

She will lead the UK beauty retailer’s business operation in America, and “ensure successful growth” with the brand’s retail partners.

Staniford previously headed up Revolution Beauty as Group Retail Director for London.

“We are looking forward to the many accomplishments to come within the US under Sara’s leadership,” Revolution Beauty said in a Linkedin post.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be entrusted with the role of President of Revolution Beauty USA,” said Staniford.

“Having been a part of the team since 2020, it’s been incredible to see the amount of growth the brand has achieved during my tenure,” she added.

“Across product innovation, continued retailer roll-outs and beyond, I am incredibly confident in the trajectory of Revolution Beauty’s growth within the USA under my leadership.”

Staniford has held roles for L’Oreal, NYX Cosmetics and Bobbi Brown during her beauty career.

The appointment comes after an investigation into Revolution Beauty uncovered a string of serious accounting and management failures.

This included the revelation that co-founders Adam Minto and Tom Allsworth had made personal loans of around £1m to distributors and a senior employee.

Concerns were also raised regarding sales made to Revolution Beauty’s three key distributors in February 2022, the final month of its full-year accounting period for 2022.

Various discrepancies were identified in the investigation such as the sales volumes, timing, terms and rationale, as well as larger than normal orders placed in February 2022.

Big Four accountancy firm BDO, which has been handling the case, stressed that these were a “departure from normal practice”.

An investigation was opened after Revolution Beauty failed to publish its final results for the year ended 28 February 2022.

Revolution Beauty has since been under the leadership of Bob Holt, former Interim Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Lake.

"The investigation has brought to light a number of serious issues with the running of this business under the previous senior management team and makes clear there is more to be done,” said Holt.

You may also like