• A group of 35 young people from Lincoln and London were asked to create the perfect Soap & Glory gift set during the event at 10 Downing Street.

Boots and No7 Beauty Company alongside the British Beauty Council were delighted to join Akshata Murty at the latest of her Lessons at 10 series of educational events for young people.

The event was designed by the British Beauty Council ahead of British Beauty Week (26th–30th October 2023), with Boots and No 7 Beauty Company acting as patrons. Its aim was to showcase the huge variety of careers in the beauty industry – a key aim of the British Beauty Council’s Future Talent Programme.

During the event, British Beauty Council CEO Millie Kendall OBE, Boots CEO Seb James, Boots Head of Future Beauty Jenna Ward and Soap & Glory Senior Product Manager Yasmin Persaud talked to a group of 35 young people about the variety of roles in the beauty industry. They also set the young people a task to create a Soap & Glory gift set that would fly off the shelves at Boots this Christmas.

Akshata, Seb and Millie then listened as the young people pitched their gift set ideas with Seb and Millie providing feedback based on their experience as retail and beauty leaders.

Seb said: “It was an absolute pleasure attending Lessons at 10 and I would like to thank Akshata and her team for hosting us. I was really impressed with the gift set ideas from all the young people. It’s certainly given my team and I some ideas to take away for planning our gift sets for next Christmas!”

Jenna said: “I really enjoyed talking to the youngsters at the event today about what makes a great gift set! I hope they’ve gone away with a good understanding of the variety of careers available within the beauty industry.”

Yasmin added: “I’ve been lucky enough to have a really varied career within No7 Beauty Company and it was an amazing experience to meet the next generation of talent at the event. I really hope to see some of the young people join No7 Beauty Company in the future!”

The British Beauty Council’s Future Talent Programme aims to showcase the plethora of careers in the beauty industry and secure a pipeline of new talent. Boots and No7 Beauty Company have supported the initiative since its inception, contributing to the first series in a series of films about careers in cosmetic science, sustainability, technology, and fragrance.

Boots and No7 Beauty Company have also committed to offering mentors as part of the Future Talent Programme’s outreach activity. Mentors will go into schools and talk about their careers across the business, to inspire the next generation of beauty professionals.