Hong Kong based spa companies The Beautiful Skin Centre Group and The Frederique Group, have merged to form The Paua Group.

The Paua Group will run The Elemis Day Spa, The Beautiful Skin Centre, The Frederique Spa, The Frederique Academy and FrancOrientale – all based in Hong Kong – as subsidiaries of the newly formed company.

The merge is a 50/50 partnership between The Beautiful Skin Centre Group’s Lucy Whittaker and Frederique Deleage, who will both assume the position of director, and employ a team of 100.

The main focus of the new company will be on training, distribution and consulting.

The Frederique Academy was established 27 years ago and The Paua group wants to consolidate the two businesses existing training institutes, including the International Health and Beauty Institute, which was run by the Beautiful Skin Centre group, so that they are all branded under the Frederique Academy name.

The co-founders said: “We have been friends and colleagues in the industry for many years. This step is a natural progression enabling us to join forces to continue our mission to bring the highest standards of professional care to the beauty industry in Asia.”

The group plans to open more training academies in Asia and is targeting China first, as it believes this is where the biggest demand for accreditation and regulations in the spa and beauty industry and the largest potential for revenue lies.

Although if the right location came along it would consider expansion, the group has no immediate plans to develop the operational side of its business, but is looking to expand its consultancy in Asia, offering expertise on spa development, set up, operations, training and wellness programmes.

“The Hong Kong spa market is a tough one to be in at the moment,” said Whittaker. “By consolidating, Frederique and I have eliminated a competitor and believe our businesses will be stronger and less fragmented.” Details: +852 2522 3053