Marco Leonetti’s Utopia, one of the island’s leading beauty establishments, has announced the completion of a wholesale bespoke refurbishment project at its salon on Central Promenade, Douglas.
Completed in June this year, the £85,000 stylistic revision has seen the 17 year old family business transformed in to an ultra-modern space tempered by an uncompromising attention to detail and client comfort.
The facelift follows months of planning and consultation, during which Marco and his wife, Colette, enlisted the services of renowned Barcelona based salon design consultancy, Phal.
As a full complement to the refit, Utopia has also adopted a full technological upgrade, which offers clients the chance to browse complimentary iPads at reception and manage their bookings and product ordering via a specially designed Utopia app, available through all app-stores.
Marco said: ‘We were heavily involved in the design itself, from the architectural dynamics, the materials and the hand finishing on the furniture, to the new technologies installed, the lighting and flooring.
‘My wife and I flew out to Barcelona for four days and spent that time with the family owned multi-national company, very similar to ourselves.
‘It was important for us to spend time with them, to observe the finer details of the construction and finishing processes, and it was lovely to see that the company valued staff and client satisfaction as much as we do here.
‘Some of their team has been with Phal for 30 years, and had been given the opportunity to grow with the company.
‘This is something we hold very dear here at Utopia and is quite rare in the modern day, particularly within creative industries.’
The refurbishment also marks the salon’s commitment to reinvesting in what Marco termed ‘a promising and constantly maturing local economy’, and acts as testament to the business owner’s belief in the durability of local businesses.
‘It is vital in every single industry on the island that we have the confidence to invest in ourselves so that our customers are not forced to take their money off-island to obtain the products and services they want,’ he explained. ‘Of course, it would be imprudent of me not to recognise that there are marginal discrepancies associated with the cost of transit, for example, but the value and the experience must be maintained if we are to protect our local economy.
‘Product development, for example, has always been an important part of our MO which is why my daughter, Danielle, has also taken this opportunity to expand our offerings in beauty treatment through her own business, Purité.
Marco added: ‘We have always tried to be the best at what we do and think our clients and, of course, the Utopia team deserve to spend their time in the most comfortable and accommodating environment available.
‘This recent revision of the salon is proof of this guiding principle. The new interior has very much raised the bar in terms of what’s available to Isle of Man residents and visitors and is evidence of our belief in the imperative for local businesses to take ownership of the economic climate, to adapt to its conditions and to respond effectively without compromising on the client experience.
‘The market for tourism and hospitality, entertainment and luxury services on the Island is rapidly maturing and we need to respond to its vast potential with confidence and investment for the sake of our economy and, of course, our customers. I would like to thank them all for their patience over the past few weeks and am very much looking forward to seeing their response to this fantastic new facelift.”
To find out more, visit http://www.utopiahaircare.com/