Rakesh Aggarwal (born 1975), is a Welsh businessman and founder of the internet cosmetics retailer Escentual.com.James McKeigue. "How I built the Amazon of online beauty". MoneyWeek. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.

Early life

Aggarwal is the son of Raj K Aggarwal OBE DL (India's honorary consul in Wales), and Mrs Usha Aggarwal. His father left

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in the 1960s to settle in the UK, and after training as a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

, ran a chemists shop in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

.Loizou, Kiki
"I missed out on beauty sleep to look good online"
The Sunday Times. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012. Aggarwal's grandfather was a businessman in Kenya. Aggarwal grew up in Cardiff and attended

The Cathedral School, Llandaff The Cathedral School, Llandaff ( Welsh: ''Ysgol y Gadeirlan, Llandaf'') is a coeducational private day school located in Llandaff, a district north of the Welsh capital Cardiff. Originally established as a choral foundation to train choir boys f ...

before moving to

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

as a boarder. After A-levels at Malvern, he studied pharmacy at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, but halted his studies in the second year and returned to Wales. He then enrolled on

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

's MBA course, graduating with a distinction in 1999.

Escentual

In 2000, Aggarwal took an e-commerce course and then spent £5,000 on design before launching Escentual.com from his parents' garage. Escentual.com took its first order in November 2000. In 2011, Escentual.com posted sales of more than £10million and won the Beauty, Perfume & Cosmetics category at the Online Retail Awards. By 2012, the business was being described as "the Amazon of online beauty" by

Moneyweek ''MoneyWeek'' is a British weekly investment magazine that covers financial and economic news and provides commentary and analysis across the UK and global markets. ''MoneyWeek'' is edited in London. History ''MoneyWeek'', founded by Jolyon Conn ...

. At that point, Escentual.com employed 16 full-timers as well as part-time picking and packing staff. According to Retail Gazette, the firm's turnover for 2014–2015 was £14m. In the 12 months to March 2015, Escentual shipped 300,000 orders from over 200 brands. As a result of its growth, Escentual.com moved to a bigger warehouse in Cardiff's Ocean Park. The move, predicted to create 100 new jobs, was backed by the Welsh Government. Economy Minister

Edwina Hart Edwina Hart, MBE (born 26 April 1957) is a Welsh LabourAssem ...

said: "The significant number of jobs the company is creating illustrates the important role that entrepreneurs play in the economy ... I am pleased its growth plans will be taking place in Wales." Aggarwal has insisted that Wales, and Cardiff in particular, has been integral to the company's success. He told The Western Mail: "We find the environment here in Cardiff conducive to, and supportive of, business." He has also credited

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

with helping customers interact and keep abreast of developments with the company. Alexandra "Binky" Felstead from the augmented reality TV show

Made in Chelsea ''Made in Chelsea'' (abbreviated ''MIC'') is a British Scripted reality, structured-reality television series broadcast by E4 (TV channel), E4. ''Made in Chelsea'' chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London and South West a ...

is a beauty ambassador and blogger on behalf of Escentual.com. In 2015, in association with

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

, Escentual.com commissioned research into the risks posed by out-of-date make-up. Laboratory tests, on foundation, blusher, lipstick and lip gloss that had passed their sell-by date found that they contained dangerous levels of enterococcus faecalis – the bacteria responsible for meningitis and septicaemia. Researchers also found staphlyoccocus epidermidis, propionibacterium, and enterobacter, which causes urinary and respiratory tract infections. Speaking to

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

, Aggarwal said: "This research has even surprised us and has shown that there is a serious health risk here." Other analytics, published by Escentual.com, were reported to show a rise in online sales whenever England were playing in European football matches, suggesting that – while their partners watched the games – women were opting to shop online instead. Aggarwal has said that his approach was inspired by his grandfather, who was a businessman in Kenya. He told journalist Chloe Rigby: “The adage my grandfather used to tell me was: quality, service and satisfaction."

Other interests

In 2015, Aggarwal was elected a trustee of

Students Union. Aggarwal will serve a four-year term focusing on issues of governance, strategy and finance. Aggarwal was elected vice chairman of the Cosmetic & Perfumery Retailers Association (COPRA) in April 2015.

References

External links

Escentual.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aggarwal, Rakesh 1975 births Living people People educated at Malvern College Alumni of King's College London 21st-century Welsh businesspeople 20th-century Welsh businesspeople Businesspeople from Cardiff People educated at The Cathedral School, Llandaff Welsh people of Indian descent