by Gordon Deegan
A fashion retail firm co-owned by entrepreneur and lifestyle guru, Pippa O’Connor recorded profits of over €850,000 in its first 15 months in business.
That is according to new accounts filed by Pippa’s Ronnoco Collection Ltd which show that the business recorded profits of €853,536 in the 15 months to the end of September last.
The main activity of the firm is the manufacture and retail of fashion wear and the new accounts for Ronnoco Collection Ltd show that it was sitting on a cash pile of €482,064 at the end of last September.
The firm is just one of six firms that Pippa and her husband and business partner, Brian Ormond have established in response to the massive demand for Pippa branded goods, including her best selling 'Poco' jeans collection.
In the first 16 months, Pippa sold 50,000 pairs of the branded POCO (Pippa O’Connor Ormond) jeans - not bad for a business that started out as a blog by Pippa and has gone from strength to strength at a rapid rate since.
Today, the pippa.ie website has sections devoted to fashion, beauty, travel along with an online shop for its Poco jeans collection.
Pippa’s one day fashion events, ‘Pippa’s Fashion Factories’ at hotel venues round the country are also a great money spinner for the couple.
The day includes make up demos from the country's leading professionals; skin care advice; a tanning demo; a fashion show; a styling session; afternoon tea and a luxury goodie bag.
To attend a Pippa Fashion Factory, it costs €100 per person and underlining the popularity of such days, upcoming 'Pippa Fashion Factories' days at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork; the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise, the Radisson Hotel in Golden Lane (2 dates) and the Strand Hotel in Limerick are already sold out.
The accounts for Ronocco Collection Ltd show that it employed six people over the year and its staff costs totalled €306,044.
Underlining the high profits the company made its its first 15 months, the company’s corporation tax bill totalled €165,762.
Pay to Pippa and Brian Ormond from that firm stood at €70,861 for the year - the couple last year spent €1.3m on their 'dream home' in Co Kildare.
The couple have established a holding company, BOPOC Holdings Ltd; a property investment firm, Bopoc Investments Ltd; a TV production company, Bopoc Productions Ltd; a firm promoting events in Ireland, Ronnoco Style Ltd, a firm promoting events in the UK, Ronnoco Style NI Ireland and Ronnoco Collection Ltd
In an interview on RTE’s Late Late Show, Pippa explained how the ‘Pippa brand’ developed.
She said that needed a new challenge now that she wasn't modelling.
She said: “I was pregnant and prior to that I was modelling for eight years maybe and things were slowing up, and I got a bit frightened and thought, 'What am I going to do with the rest of my life?’
She added: “I just out of a hobby started a blog... I just simply started to document my style and my pregnancy fashion and it really grew organically from there.”
