Ros Simmons is a British businesswoman. She was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Vie at Home Vie at Home (trademarked ''VIE at home''), formerly ''The Virgin Cosmetics Company'' and ''Virgin Vie At Home'', was a retailer and distributor of cosmetics. The company was formed as The Virgin Cosmetics Company by Mark and Liz Warom with the bac ...

, a company for which she worked since it was launched in 1997, starting out as Marketing Director. In late 2008, Simmons successfully led a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

of the company, formerly known as Virgin

, from Virgin Group. In December 2010, the company was sold to Helmut Spikker.

Background

After her training at the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, in London, England. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate, short courses, study abroad courses and business-training in fashion, make-up, beauty-therap ...

, Simmons joined The Body Shop. During her seven years with the company, she held the position of Brand Manager with global responsibility for the Colour Cosmetics division. When she joined The Virgin Cosmetics Company as one of the founding directors she was given the task of growing Virgin Vie at Home into the UK's leading cosmetics party plan business as well as developing the

cosmetic Cosmetic may refer to: *Cosmetics, or make-up, substances to enhance the beauty of the human body, apart from simple cleaning *Cosmetic, an adjective describing beauty, aesthetics, or appearance, especially concerning the human body *Cosmetic, a t ...

and skin care product ranges. In January 2009, Simmons led a management buy-out of Virgin Vie at Home with her business partner Ratan Daryani. In order to take control of the company the team purchased the shares for £1. Further to this the Virgin Group wrote off £21m worth of loans and paid the new enterprise £7m worth of 'Brand Protection' payment, so that if the company failed, the Virgin Brand would not be endangered. In late 2009, Simmons closed the final Effective Cosmetics (Previously Virgin Cosmetics) stores, putting the chain into Administration. In 2010, Simmons was nominated for a Real Woman Award in the Retail & Consumer Section. In December 2010, VIE was sold to Helmut Spikker for an undisclosed sum. In May 2011, Simmons resigned from the Board of Directors of VIE.

Personal background

Simmons lives with her husband Andy in West Sussex. Her hobbies include

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

, interior design and watching

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

References

Sources

Virgin Vie At Home announces Management Buy Out

VIE at home, a new name for Virgin Vie At Home

Ros Simmons: Entrepreneur's Diary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Ros British businesspeople Living people Alumni of the London College of Fashion Year of birth missing (living people)