Cosmetic surgery provider Skin has collapsed, putting hundreds of jobs and 70 branches at risk.
Customers today said they arrived for appointments only to find their local clinic closed, while anyone who called Skin’s head office number earlier this week was told the chain had “ceased trading”.
The Birmingham-based company claims to have “the largest network of specialist skin care clinics in the UK”.
Founded in 1990, the company expanded to sites in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and also had 17 clinics across London.
It also owned brands including cosmetic surgery firm Harley Medical Group and skin technology company ABC Medical, whose phone lines had the same automated message.
Skin had more than 450 consultants, doctors, nurses and doctors working across England and Scotland.
The company provided services ranging from tattoos and wart removal to lip fillers and thread lifts, a type of facelift.
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However, customers were told yesterday that their appointments would no longer go ahead.
One customer, who did not want to be identified, said his upcoming appointment was canceled “out of the blue” on Tuesday.
They added that they had paid about £700 up front for a series of appointments and had not completed the treatment.
“They did this without prior warning to customers, without communication about how to get reimbursement for the treatment customers owed,” the person said.
Another customer, journalist Sophia Smith Galer, said she also arrived for an appointment only to find the clinic closed.
‘Total wildness that I turned up for my laser and the clinic was closed,’ she wrote on X. ‘Ring the bell – Sk:n Clinics have stopped doing business with the group they were a part of!!!! It seems like a few hours ago – another client had a confirmed application this morning.’
Meanwhile, Cathryn Kemp said she got a call yesterday saying her doctor was running late before an email came through saying her appointment had been cancelled. She then called the clinic only to be told it was out of business.
Skin’s website was replaced with a message that the company “undertook an extensive process to secure investment to continue trading but unfortunately we were unsuccessful”.
It adds: “We recognize that this outcome will have a significant impact on our team members and our customers, and we deeply apologize for the stress and inconvenience this has caused.
“We are doing everything we can to address the concerns of those affected and are contacting all clients who are still awaiting test results as soon as possible. Any further updates will be listed on this website as and when they become available.”
Meanwhile, Skin’s X and Instagram accounts also appeared to have been suspended.
Communications firm Kendall, which was Skin’s PR agency, wrote in an Instagram post that it was ‘blindsided’ by the news.
The post indicated that Skin had ceased trading, but that “we have no information at this time for the press and patients who understandably are contacting us to clarify the situation”.
“We have no information on how SK:N (or HMRC/debt collection) are managing things, or how canceled appointments/patient payments etc will be rectified.
“Unfortunately, we are in the same situation as many staff and patients, for several months (our) own invoices remain unpaid without explanation or correction.”