The founder of Givenchy spas, Claude Renaudin, has announced her intention to expand the brand to New York and the UK.

Talks with a London operator are said to be in advanced stage, as are negotiations with Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons hotel in Oxfordshire.

Givenchy currently puts its name to six spas, including two in Europe – at the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, France and Le Mirador Kempinski on Lake Geneva, Switzerland – and one in North America, in Montreal, Canada.

According to Renaudin, the requisites for a Givenchy spa franchise are very specific. Each facility needs to be between of 800--2,000sq m in size, within a hotel located in a ‘magic place’ – but near an airport – and have plenty of natural daylight.

The operators are required to fund the development which can cost anything between E2m (£1.35m) to E10m (£6.7m).

She said: “I am approached by four to five operators every month wanting to set up a Givenchy spa. Unfortunately we are not interested in the number of spas but the location and the confidence with the hotel investors and the quality of management.”

Renaudin recently closed the Givenchy spa at the Trianon Palace hotel in Versailles, France. The facility was the first Givenchy Spa to open, in 1999, but Givenchy’s support was withdrawn following to a change of management, which Renaudin claimed did not match her wn standards.

Renaudin also closed the spa at Le Parker Meridien Resort in Palm Springs, Florida for similar reasons. Details: See alos interview with Claude Renaudin in Health Club Management magazine, September 2004, p.62