Cardiff’s Glamdeva set for expansion with new CEO appointment
The UK’s leading online booking platform for mobile hair and makeup is setting its sights on a major year of expansion after appointing a leading figure from the world of finance.
Glamdeva, which was founded by Gurinder Randeva in 2019, has welcomed Louise Santaana as its new CEO, with the former Head of Private Banking and Lending at Lloyds immediately charged with doubling its operations over the next twelve months and creating a host of new jobs at its Cardiff headquarters.
The qualified lawyer turned finance expert will use her skills and experience working with high-growth businesses to explore strategic partnerships, new advertising and marketing campaigns and, longer-term, the potential of attracting external finance.
She will look to leverage the firm’s exceptional customer experience journey to expand the ‘Glamdeva’ community across the UK, as well as increasing the number of artists and stylists on its platform to over 1,000.
There are also plans in place to expand the offering from makeup and hair to include nails, eyebrows and the increasingly popular world of aesthetics.
“This is such an exciting time for Glamdeva, with the technology firmly established and a growing number of users and stylists/artists wanting to join our community. 2022 is going to be the year we scale,” explained Louise, who has also worked in law, commercial banking and corporate finance.
“In a fast-paced world where people don’t have time to go into salons or the city centre for an appointment, we can bring beauty and hair services to your door using our easy-to-use online marketplace.”
She went on to add: “The feedback from people who use us is superb and one of my key roles will be to raise the profile of the brand and our services, not to mention looking at strategic partnerships where we can offer a solution. This could be a TV production company, entertainment venue or a wedding planner for example.
“As a society, we are increasingly turning to online marketplaces to access services – my job is to work with Gurinder and the team to ensure that when people look for beauty and hair services they choose Glamdeva.
“This opportunity is a bit of a guilty pleasure. I’ve always wanted to own my own beauty salon…this role gives me the chance to support and grow hundreds of mobile salons.”
Glamdeva.com allows the client to simply enter their booking details and compare real-time prices of 400 approved beauty and hair specialists within seconds.
It will display a range of local and national professionals, along with their prices, recent photos of their work and their distance from your location. If users are happy with the price and the artist, payment is taken using a secure gateway and direct communication to the stylist is given.
For hair and make-up specialists interested in getting involved, the process is equally as simple.
A member of the Glamdeva onboarding team works with the professionals to verify their expertise and experience, before giving them access to the cloud-based booking system where they can control everything about their business including the services they offer, prices, their availability and operating days & times. They can also set their coverage and the maximum miles they will cover.
Gurinder Randeva, Founder of Glamdeva, was delighted with the appointment: “This is a fantastic coup for our business at exactly the right time as we look to scale quickly.
“Louise has a wealth of finance and business experience that she can bring to the company, not to mention a network of contacts that we can use to explore new partnerships and opportunities.”
She went on to add: “Whilst there is fierce competition in our sector, none of our rivals can match our nationwide coverage or the simplicity of the customer journey. We have also added a new makeup tools brand in GLAMX, something we started during the pandemic and is really growing in popularity.”
Outside of work, Louise is a trustee and treasurer for a national charity, active member of her local church.