SpaceNK has become synonymous with British prestige beauty. Since its founding in Covent Garden in 1993, the retailer has built its reputation on curating innovative brands and making beauty discovery a defining part of the customer experience. Today, it operates as one of the UK and Ireland’s most influential beauty retailers, achieving total business growth of 26% year on year in 2025, with parent company Ulta Beauty reporting a net sales increase of 8.9% to $3.04 billion in their latest earnings report.
Following a period of accelerated growth in the region, and most recently its acquisition by Ulta Beauty from Manzanita Capital for approximately £300 to £400 million in 2025, SpaceNK is entering its next chapter: a leadership transition.
Andy Lightfoot, who led SpaceNK at the time of the Ulta Beauty acquisition, has officially stepped down as CEO, making way for Emma Simpson-Scott, SpaceNK's former Chief Marketing Officer, to assume the role.
"Under his [Lightfoot’s] leadership, SpaceNK has achieved significant growth, strengthened its position as a market-leading beauty retailer, and successfully transitioned into the Ulta Beauty family," said Kecia Steelman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ulta Beauty, in a statement.
During Lightfoot's leadership, SpaceNK underwent a significant evolution, strengthening its omnichannel capabilities while still investing in physical retail, opening larger formats, including a two-story Covent Garden location, and developing more experiential concepts, which ultimately led to a turnover rise from approximately £111.8 million in 2021 to £196.5 million in 2024.
The CEO change marks a significant moment for the business. Simpson-Scott has spent a decade at SpaceNK, including seven and a half years as CMO, working alongside Lightfoot, who became CEO in 2019. Alongside the company’s senior leadership team, they drove a period of substantial transformation and growth.
Before joining SpaceNK, Simpson-Scott built her career in beauty marketing and communications. She began at P&G Beauty before spending a significant portion of her career at L'Oréal, where she held various senior communications and marketing roles before ultimately joining SpaceNK.
With more than 20 years of experience across the beauty industry, Simpson-Scott has played a central role in shaping the SpaceNK brand. As CMO, she helped strengthen its connection with consumers.
Her initiatives included SpaceNK's major 2021 advertising campaign, “This Is Your Beauty – SpaceNK”—the company's first significant brand campaign in more than a decade; it centered on individuality and beauty discovery, reinforcing the idea that beauty is personal and that there is no singular definition of what beauty should look like.
Her focus also extended to the physical retail experience. SpaceNK has increasingly invested in experiential stores designed with the consumer in mind, including its Battersea Power Station concept store, which opened in 2022. The format reflected the retailer's effort to create spaces that encourage discovery and education.
"Emma is a highly respected retail leader who brings deep customer insight, retail expertise, and a passion for building exceptional teams," Steelman added.
Simpson-Scott brings a different professional lens to the company’s next phase. With her background in beauty, brand building, and consumer experience, she contrasts with Lightfoot's background, which was shaped largely by retail, e-commerce, and digital transformation. Before joining SpaceNK in 2016, Lightfoot spent approximately six years at Amazon and later worked on digital transformation at Arcadia. He initially joined SpaceNK to lead its e-commerce and digital transformation efforts before becoming CEO in 2019.
Simpson-Scott's appointment is also part of a broader evolution of SpaceNK's leadership team. Hannah Quy, former Chief Financial Officer at fashion retailer Yours Clothing, has joined the business as Chief Financial Officer, while Tiff Ruis, who comes from Ulta Beauty as their Senior Vice President of Store Operations – West Division, now serves as Senior Vice President of Retail & E-Commerce.
"I've seen first-hand the passion, expertise, and entrepreneurial spirit of our teams, which has been instrumental in evolving SpaceNK into the business it is today," said Simpson-Scott in a statement. "I look forward to driving continued innovation and growth and creating even more inspiring beauty experiences for our customers."
While it's not known what this next phase for SpaceNK will bring, it's clear the retailer will continue its curation and culture of discovery.
