SK:N: Why did the cosmetic surgery chain go bankrupt?

“I wanted the surgery because I have four children and I wanted my body to go back to the way it was before I had children,” she explained.

“My dad gave me money for it and I was going to pay him back in small installments. My sister took time off to take care of my kids.”

SK:N has not yet said whether refunds will be issued, but customers like Jane may struggle to get their money back, said Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?.

“Unfortunately, when a company goes out of business, customers often end up at the back of a long line of creditors, making it almost impossible to get compensation,” she added.

But she said there was “light at the end of the tunnel” for people who paid for their services on credit, as credit card companies are jointly liable for any breach of contract by the seller.

“This protection is particularly valuable if the retailer has gone out of business,” she added.

Sarah Kiely, 40, from Northampton, told the BBC she paid £1,300 for 16 treatments at the SK:N clinic but only had four of them.

However, because she used her Lloyds Bank credit card, she was told there was a chance of getting some money back.

She arrived at the local clinic yesterday to find it locked in with a group of women outside trying to find out what was going on.

One of them told her the company owed her £15,000.

Sarah told the BBC she was “really sad” for staff at the clinic who, along with hundreds of others across the UK, lost their jobs overnight.

“I have been using this clinic for three years and have become familiar with the doctors and staff. For such a huge company, the zero notice to staff or customers is shocking.”

SK:N group is part of the UK ‘aesthetics’ sector which has grown rapidly in the last few years by filling a niche in the market for minor beauty treatments not covered by the NHS.

The Birmingham-based company began offering laser hair removal in 1990, but has expanded to provide services ranging from acne treatment and wart removal to lip fillers and thread lifts (a type of facelift).

It’s been a challenging five years for the industry, which has been unable to function during the Covid lockdown. It was also hit by higher costs and slower consumer spending due to high inflation.

A number of smaller clinics have sprung up to challenge the bigger players, while health professionals such as dentists are expanding their remit to include cosmetic “enhancements”, says Catherine Shuttleworth, founder of retail consultancy Savvy.

She said the cosmetics firm’s big marketing push overseas had also had a significant impact on UK clinics.

SK:N is not the only business to have been hit: Laser Clinics UK, a chain of 50 franchised salons, has also closed shops this year.

Dr. Aenone Harper-Machin is a spokesperson for the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (Bapras) and a consultant plastic surgeon.

He says SK:N was an “excellent business concept” that filled a big gap in the market by taking aesthetic treatments “mainstream.”

But he questions whether SK:N, which was bought by private equity firm TriSpan in 2019, expanded too quickly.

The group had 51 clinics at the time but now has more than 70 nationwide under brands including SK:N Clinics, Harley Medical Group, Skinbrands, The Skin Experts and ABC Medical.

“The laser rig is really very expensive. Their rent would be too high. I’m not sure, but they probably overextended themselves.”

Trispan has yet to comment, but the BBC understands the owners have invested heavily in the turnaround attempt but have been unable to manage it.

Now, as customers seek refunds, around 450 employees face an anxious wait to find out if they will be paid.

Rakhee, 31, who works at the SK:N clinic in Richmond, says staff are “shocked”.

“We had 15 minutes to clear our clinics and go home. All our clients were trying to get their money back. Some people had to have stitches taken out.”

She worked for the group for nearly a decade, but says she and her colleagues were “terminated after a 10-minute video call, with no remorse, no empathy, no severance pay, not even a final paycheck.”

Lucie, 32, said she worked at the SK:N clinic in Guildford and had no idea the company was in trouble.

Then, like Rakhee, the staff learned the news in a Zoom meeting yesterday.

“We’ve been told we won’t get paid this month,” she told the BBC.

“We had to leave a note on the front door for our clients. They all spent thousands of pounds on procedures and treatments.”

According to Citizens Advice, if your employer is insolvent, you can claim some of the money your employer owes you from the Excess Payments Service, which is a civil service.

The maximum amount you can claim for unpaid weekly pay or annual leave is £700 if your employment ended on or after 6 April 2024, or £643 if it ended between 6 April 2023 and 5 April 2024.