Skin, one of the UK’s largest plastic surgery providers with more than 70 branches, has collapsed, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
As of 5pm on Tuesday, Skin’s website had been replaced by a message saying the company had “undertaken an extensive process to secure investment to enable it to continue trading but sadly we’ve been unsuccessful”.
It added: “We recognise this outcome will have a significant impact on our team members and our customers and we are deeply sorry for the stress and inconvenience this has caused.
“We are doing all we can to address the concerns of those affected and will be contacting all clients still awaiting test results as soon as possible. All further updates will be provided on this website and when available.”
Before the website went down, it said the Birmingham-based company had “the largest network of specialist skin care clinics in the UK”.
Founded in 1990, the company expanded to locations in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and had 17 clinics across London.
It also owned brands including the cosmetic surgery firm Harley Medical Group and the skin technology company ABC Medical, whose phone lines had the same automated message.
Skin had more than 450 consultants, doctors, nurses and medical practitioners operating across England and Scotland. The company provided services from tattoo and wart removal to lip filler and thread lifts, a type of facelift.
Customers have been told their appointments will no longer go ahead.
One customer, who asked not to be identified, said their upcoming appointment had been cancelled on Tuesday “out of the blue”. They said they had pre-paid about £700 for a series of appointments and had not yet completed the course of treatment.
“They’ve done this with no prior warning to customers, with no communications about how to get a refund on the treatments customers are owed,” the person said.
Customers calling Skin’s main office number on Tuesday were told: “Unfortunately as of July 17, the Skin Group, including Skin Clinics, the Harley Medical Group, Skin Brands, the Skin Experts and ABC Medical, has ceased trading.”
Skin’s accounts on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram appear to have been closed.
The communications firm Kendrick, which was Skin’s PR agency, wrote in a post on Instagram that it had been “blindsided” by the news.
The post indicated that Skin had ceased trading and said: “At this time we have no information for the press and patients who are understandably reaching out to us wanting clarity on the situation. We have no information regarding how things are being managed by SK:N (or HMRC/debt collection), or how cancelled patient appointments/payments etc will be redressed.
“We are unfortunately in the same position as many staff and patients, with several months of (our) own invoices being left unpaid with no explanation or redress.”
The PA news agency contacted Skin for comment.