Waterlooville firm goes from garden shed to global triumph despite Covid

When Julie Butler opened up a room to her lash clients 13 years ago, she could never have guessed it would boom into a multi-million pound empire.
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But it did.

A mum-of-three, Julie had dedicated most of her time to raising her children. But when they flew the nest she suddenly found herself at a loose end.

Julie was looking for something to do, a hobby that would get the creative juices flowing and engross her in a new project that would give her a new lease of life. So she signed up for a beauty course in 2007 and had a bash at learning new skills that would allow her to launch her own lash brand.

The LashBase team at the LashBase Warehouse in Waterlooville. Picture: Habibur Rahman.The LashBase team at the LashBase Warehouse in Waterlooville. Picture: Habibur Rahman.
The LashBase team at the LashBase Warehouse in Waterlooville. Picture: Habibur Rahman.
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‘There wasn’t any major plan. It was just that my children had grown up and I was looking for something to do,’ she explains.

‘I started as a beauty therapist. I did a lot of courses and a lot of training and I started doing treatments from home.

‘I was just giving myself my own part-time job, that's all I intended it being and giving myself some pocket money.

LashBase founder Julie Butler. Picture: Malcolm Wells (191030-9089)LashBase founder Julie Butler. Picture: Malcolm Wells (191030-9089)
LashBase founder Julie Butler. Picture: Malcolm Wells (191030-9089)
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‘But it obviously increased from there. It got bigger and better and I could see the opportunity was there. There weren’t a lot of lash suppliers out there at the time so I thought “this is something I could do”.’

Fast forward to today, and her online business, LashBase, which started with Julie, a kit of beauty tools and her garden shed, has gone global. The net worth of Lashbase at Stratfield Park, Waterlooville, is £26m – based on this year’s figures.

Shipping across Europe, to the US and all the way to Australia, Julie's business is the ‘biggest supplier of lashes to professionals in the UK’ and it employs her family.

A few months ago the demand for LashBase’s products reached such heights that the company had to open a new warehouse in Atlanta in the United States to supply demand. A dream that had taken two years to hit the ground running thanks to Covid restrictions.

Julie Butler, founder of LashBase.Julie Butler, founder of LashBase.
Julie Butler, founder of LashBase.
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The Waterlooville mum said: ‘Lashes were one of the last courses I took. However, out of all my training, lashes were the ones that hit it off most. Within a short space of time all of my time and appointments were taken up with lashes rather than any other treatment that I’d ever learnt.

‘When I started it lashes were still very much in their infancy. There were probably less than five suppliers out there that you could buy products from.’

Julie soon built up a large clientele and started training budding lash artists. The kits she was supplying were in high demand by her students and time and time again she found herself having to replenish the stock.

That was when she launched in 2009. Now LashBase boasts a team of 29 employees - supplying beauty technicians and enthusiasts with tools to support their own work worldwide.

LashBase party.LashBase party.
LashBase party.
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Joined by her three sons and her husband, they too wanted to help build Julie’s empire.

One son, Jamie, heads the marketing for LashBase and was hired by Julie when she was struggling to get to grips with building the business on Facebook in the early days.

The 33-year-old said: ‘Knowing my mum needed to employ staff, she approached me and said she needed to employ some people but would much rather give her money to people she can trust like her family.

‘I didn’t have a clue we would be this big down the line. It was obviously doing well but when I joined it was only my mum and dad. Now we’ve got customers all over the world even in some places where we didn’t even realise there was a desire for lashes.

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‘It was doing well at that point seven or eight years ago, it was a very well-established national company. But I don’t think any of us expected it to turn into what it is now. We’ve got manufacturers all over the world.’

It’s not always been plain sailing though. Like any other business, times have been tough and it’s been down to every individual that comprises LashBase to drive towards a shared goal.

‘It was all about getting in at the right time,’ Julie says. Being a niche outlet before false lashes went big time, the founder puts it down to luck and her team, who she calls her extended family.

One difficulty the brand had to overcome was Brexit because of the added cost of various customs and duty charges. On top of that came a global pandemic, so the team’s dreams of opening their new warehouse in Atlanta were shattered, facing the daunting prospect of leaving behind everything they’d started for two years while they returned home, with no idea when they’d be able to return.

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‘We secured it in October 2019,’ Julie explains. ‘Between then and March 2020 we were back and forth preparing it, getting all the shelving done, getting all the stock in and getting it delivered.

‘We were due to launch in March and we flew out to Atlanta in February to get everything set up but then Covid started and we kept thinking, “it’s all right, everything is fine”, but then on March 23 we had to fly back home – which was almost the last flight before everyone went into isolation and lockdown.’

Finally after what seemed like far too long – LashBase opened its second warehouse in America which currently houses two employees.

The business supplies a vast collection of products which often go out to salons requiring professional lashes. From eyelash extension kits complete with all the necessary tools like adhesive, mascara wands, tweezers, primer, eye pads, cleanser and more to types of lash extension.

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For Julie, she is ‘very proud’ of what her back garden shed company has erupted into. What the company is today, is beyond what Julie and her family could ever have dreamed of when she fell in love with being a lash technician all those years ago.

But Julie reiterates, although she was the one with the big idea and the skill in the first place, it’s the hard work of her family and employees that helped lift this enterprise off the ground. From husband Tony, who fired up the website to her multi-talented sons and ‘fantastic’ team who have just as much enthusiasm about the business as Julie.

‘I never take it for granted. I still pinch myself every day and can't believe how things have turned out. It's a full family business and that makes me very proud.’

In the next five years Julie would like to be ‘completely established’ in the US where she says they may even decide to open a warehouse on the west coast to make shipping more efficient.

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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