Summary
A French-British laundry product manufactured in Cheltenham reached £10k turnover yesterday (October 6) – 101 days from launch. Alex Besnard was inspired to launch Lavoir after getting tired of endless detergent ads on TV promising more. Alex, who is 29, said: “Somewhere along the way, we have made something as simple as washing our clothes incredibly complicated.
Details
Most of us have no idea what is actually inside the products we use every week, and I think we have almost forgotten what clean is supposed to smell and feel like.” On December 29 last year, he decided to create his own brand with just three ingredients, which he said was built around simplicity, transparency and honesty.
Lavoir was based on Alex’s memories of growing up on France and the work the women in his family, particularly his grandmother, Mamie Lou, put into the laundry. He said: “I remember sheets hanging outside in the garden during summer and that completely unmistakable smell of linen dried in the fresh air.
It is difficult to describe, because it is more of a memory than simply a fragrance.” Alex previously worked as a chef in a Michelin-starred restaurant in France. He moved to Nottingham when he was 18, followed by the New Forest and eventually Cheltenham, working his way through hospitality in various roles, from supervisor through to restaurant management.
In Cheltenham, he worked for Big House Experience as a sales consultant, helping clients hire high-end properties for short stays. It was while working full-time for Big House Experience that he researched ingredients, formulations, packaging and suppliers, investing £4,500 of his own money into the idea.
He did everything himself – formulation, production, filling, packing, design, marketing, customer service, social media, approaching stockists, the website, coding and accounts. He quit his job to focus on Lavoir full-time last month. Lavoir’s first product, La Lessive, has only three ingredients: water, real Savon de Marseille soap flakes made from vegetable oils and the brand’s signature perfume from Grasse.
Alex said: “The fragrance was developed in Grasse around my own memories of France – particularly sheets drying outside in the summer. I did not want it to smell like an artificial idea of ‘fresh laundry’.
I wanted something that brought back the feeling of linen dried outdoors.” The product is made and packed at Alex’s workspace in Cheltenham, the tins are sourced from a company in Tewkesbury, and the labels are printed in Kent. Alex continued: “I could buy packaging much more cheaply from overseas, but I would rather spend more and support businesses closer to home.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
