Why the brand formerly known as Haeckels is being relaunched

Both Bridges and Kearney say the rebrand and the next twelve months are critical to the brand’s survival. “It’s a scary time, but it’s necessary,” Bridges said of the move. Kearney agrees: “I’m like, shit. There’s no case study for this, you know?

It’s not just about the name: despite a turnover of more than £10 million, Haeckels was struggling with costly overheads and making a loss.

To finance the restart, Haeckels had to appeal to investors. In June 2024, it initiated a financing round during which it received a new injection of funding from Estée Lauder Companies’ investment arm NIV (which invested in the brand in 2021 and 2023). The brand is looking for further investment and hopes to close the round at £6 million in the coming months. ELC declined to comment on the relaunch, but referred back to the initial investment when it said the funding would help the brand “continue doing what it does best: championing sustainability, creating breakthrough products and fighting for more transparency in beauty.”

It was not an easy topic to bring up with potential investors. “We’re in a new climate where brands need to put everything on the table,” says Kearney. “We presented our five-year plan and we knew we had to tell the ceiling table what critical changes we would make. There was no way we were going to present a plan, ask for money and surprise them later. So it was definitely nerve-wracking,” she recalls. The reception was positive, she says; investors agreed that the change needs to happen now.

A total overhaul

The investment was used for key new hires, including a global head of commercial, head of e-commerce and chief financial officer, and will be used to drive the acceleration into new markets, with an eye on the US and Europe. Bridges, who had stepped back from a day-to-day, active role to focus on conservation in Cornwall, has returned to the company as innovation leader and used his conservation knowledge to overhaul the packaging.

All skin, bath and body products are now packaged in vivomer (a compostable plastic alternative made from microbes that biodegrade within a year in healthy home compost). All secondary packaging of products has been removed, with the exception of fragrances and candles, as these have a glass exterior and use mushroom packaging (mycelium), which is already biodegradable. “We are making progress and aim to launch refillable candles in December and perfumes to follow,” says Kearney. The brand also plans to release a limited-edition set of ceramics made from leftover seaweed and ash from pizza ovens. “We want to create objects and vessels that customers can refill and reuse,” she adds.