New chairman aims to spread the Revolution

Peter Stefanini was formerly a board director of FTSE 100 chemicals business Croda International, which is based in Snaith, East Yorkshire, and specialises in personal care products. Mr Stefanini left Croda in 1996.

He was chief executive of Manro Holdings from 1996 to 2000, where he led a management buy-out, and was then an executive director at Millbrook Scientific Instruments, which he took to the Alternative Investment Market.

Since 2008, he has held a number of non-executive director roles.

Revolution Hair Concepts, which is based in Sheffield, owns the Keratin Revolution brand and also distributes the BTX Hair brand in the UK. BTX Hair is an anti-ageing treatment for the hair.

The company was founded in 2010 by Ben Collins and Martin Gallagher, who own the business.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Mr Stefanini said: “He (Ben Collins) and his partner Martin obviously have good contacts in the hair care industry and they have good ideas for growing the business.

“(My) background (is) in managing boards in various companies from large plcs through to small, private companies, so I thought I could bring a level of expertise in that area to them and, in particular, to help them to source funding to help them grow their business.”

Revolution Hair Concepts said that Mr Stefanini’s role will focus on obtaining investment for the company to grow globally and extend its range of hair care treatment products.

Mr Stefanini said: “We will look at all types of funding but I guess mainly equity from business angels or venture capital.”

He declined to comment on the amount of funding being sought by Revolution Hair Concepts.

The company has an annual turnover of around £250,000, said Mr Stefanini.

Revolution Hair Concepts is profitable, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed.

A small team of people is currently involved in the business, but the plan is to take on more staff once investment is secu- red.

Mr Stefanini said that the firm has a “significant export market”, as well as serving the UK market.

“The aim is to grow globally as well as grow the range of products. The executive directors have already identified two new products, which will come on board in the next few months.

“It’s very exciting times for the company and that was really one of the attractions.”

Mr Stefanini is a graduate of Cambridge University where he obtained a PhD in chemistry.

Mr Collins said: “We are delighted to be able to add someone of Peter’s calibre to our management team and we see the appointment as an important step in our growth plan.

“We believe Peter’s vast experience will prove highly valuable in what we consider to be an exciting road ahead for our business.

“Our vision is to grow a multi-million pound haircare distribution business which will be based in the city of Sheffield, creating exciting employment opportunities for talented individuals in the area.”

Mr Stefanini said: “Mostly I’ll be drawing on my experience of running companies and making sure that companies grow in a sensible way, don’t run out of cash, make sure capital is available where it is needed, and also drawing on my experience of setting up distributors in different countries.

“In Croda, for example, I ran a division with a turnover of £100m which had businesses in the Far East, the US, many in Europe so I’m widely experienced in developing and growing businesses overseas.”

The Keratin Revolution brand includes haircare products such as shampoo, conditioner and serum.