Started as a ‘side hustle’ in 2017 by best friends Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton, Liverpool eyelashes venture Tatti Lashes is now reporting annual sales of £22m. Tony McDonough reports

Sales at Liverpool eyelashes venture Tatti Lashes have soared more than 40% to £22m with pre-tax profits up 50% to £6m.

Started as a “side hustle” in 2017 by best friends Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton, Tatti Lashes now sells its products all over the world and has been boosted by celebrity endorsements from stars such as Khloé Kardashian and Ariana Grande.

Tatti Lashes has just posted its annual accounts for the 12 months to March 31, 2024, on Companies House. They reveal that new product launches over the accounting period had boosted revenues. The firm is expecting revenues of around £25m for the current year.

In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, Charlotte and Elliot said the pair had left school with just four GCSE’s between them. Elliot said: “Me and Charlotte were both best friends in school. After we both left we didn’t really know what we wanted to do. We ended up both opening beauty salons.”

But like all good entrepreneurs Charlotte and Elliot were on the lookout for new opportunities. And they found one. Charlotte explained: “We noticed a gap in the market for affordable lashes that were luxury. We started Tatti Lashes as a bit of a side hustle.”

They initially took around their products in a briefcase trying to sell the lashes but found they weren’t making progress. But it was the celebrity endorsements that really saw the venture take off.

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Charlotte added: “In the early days of Tatti Lashes we were lucky to have a lot of celebrities wearing our brand. Elliot texted me at 5am one morning and was over the moon that we had Nicki Manaj post our lashes online.”

Within 18 months of launching the business the pair had sold almost 2m products worldwide and since then has been on an upward growth curve. Khloé Kardashian is now a brand ambassador, increasing the company’s reach in the lucrative US market.

This week it was announced that Faisal Arif, chief executive of business finance consultancy, the Harrogate Group, was to become a non-executive board advisor to Tatti Lashes.

Harrogate Group has offices in Liverpool and Birmingham and Faisal offers expertise in business leadership and growth. He will advise Tatti Lashes on strategic decision-making and commercial growth.

He said: “I look forward to helping Tatti Lashes execute their ambitious plans for the year ahead, particularly in growing the business through both online and retail channels, as well as other exciting developments that are in the pipeline.”

According to the accounts Tatti Lashes employed 49 people during the financial year. However, in the BBC interview it was revealed headcount had now grown to 70. Shareholders shared total dividends of £296,400.