Rush Hair, a family-run hairdressing business, has sold a minority stake to private equity firm LDC for approximately £16m.
The investment is on track to be used to support a national roll-out programme with the wider aim of transforming Rush Hair into a “major national brand”.
LDC aims to help Rush almost double its salon count over the next four years; it currently operates 85 units in the UK, with 11 new salons opening in 2016 – its most in any one year to date.
Stell Andrew, Joint CEO and Co-Founder of Rush, said: “Until now we have grown our business organically but felt the time was right to turbo-charge our expansion plans, which is why private equity investment is a natural next step for us. We are now in a position to substantially increase our national presence and bring the Rush brand to more customers across the country.”
LDC and Rush Hair have been known to each other for several years and Rush’s Andrew said that as a family business it is “important for us to work with an investment partner that shares our ethos and vision”.
LDC Investment Director, Alastair Weinel said: “Rush has a proven scalable model. Its strong brand proposition means the business in an ideal position to push on and grow its UK footprint.
“The development of its training academy and continued innovation will further support the business’ status as the market-leading player in the hair and beauty sector.”