Jean Yip Group

History

After Jean Yip’s background in hairdressing includes the Allan International Hairdressing School and Vidal Sassoon in London, Jingles International and Toni & Guy. In 1982, at the age of 23, she established the first Jean Yip outlet at Katong Plaza.

Company Profile

Today, Jean Yip has more than 60 outlets around Singapore and overseas, 6 in Malaysia (4 in Johor Bahru, 2 in Kuala Lumpur), 2 in Indonesia and 1 in Guangzhou, China.

Staff Training & Development

Staff go through in-house and external courses to upgrade their skills. The Jean Yip Group has also established a professional training academy named “Jean Yip Academy” with the aim of developing professional hairstylists and beauty therapists. Jean Yip Academy is an Approved Training Provider for National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (NITEC) courses, as well as a Certified On-the-Job Training Centre for hairdressing, spa and aesthetic therapy apprenticeships. It is the only school in Singapore with both hair and beauty certification accredited by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) of Singapore. It has also been awarded the COJTC (Certified On the Job Training Center) and NITEC Industry Training Provider status by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in Singapore.

Business Development

Mr Oliver Yip, younger brother of Ms Jean Yip, is the Group Business Development Director to oversee research and development and source for new businesses. According to a report by Superbrands in 2013, the Herb De Orient products, a brand under the company’s umbrella, are “specially tailored for Asian skin and hair conditions [as they] are well researched and developed”, and is targeted at giving Jean Yip a competitive advantage in the industry against other competitors. Another brand, Superwhite Skin Lab, has gone through research and development by the Jean Yip team.

Customer Service

In 2006, Today newspaper quoted Ms Jean Yip in an interview where she mentioned that it is the “strong culture of being professional but very family-oriented” that makes the difference and “exude[s] a sense of warmth for the client[s]”.

Management/Company structure

The company’s senior management comprises Ms Jean Yip as Founder and Chairman; her husband, Mr Mervin Wee as Group Managing Director and Artistic Director, and Hairdressing/Principal of the Academy; younger sister, Ms Dawn Yip as Group Operations and Marketing Director; and younger brother, Oliver Yip as Group Business Development Director.

The business is continuing down the family line, with eldest daughter Cheryl Wee as the company’s current ambassador. In her interview with Prestige Magazine, Ms Jean Yip highlighted that “Rachel (her second daughter) is doing her masters in pharmacology and has promised to join the product development arm. Russell (youngest son) has also expressed interest in developing a new area in the business”.

Accomplishments

Jean Yip has won prizes in its 34 years of business.

Notable Projects

In 2010, the Jean Yip Loft was built. It is a seven-storey centre which contains all Jean Yip Group’s services and other amenities, serving as a clubhouse for its customers.

The company ventured into China in 2013. Its Guangzhou flagship salon is located in the central neighbourhood of Haizhu.

Outlets

Currently, “Jean Yip has branched out all around Asia, more than 60 hairdressing, beauty and slimming outlets just within Singapore, 6 of their shops in Malaysia, 2 in Indonesia and 1 in Guangzhou, China”. The Jean Yip Group has more than 70 outlets that comprise hair salons, beauty and slimming centres, nail bars and spas with some 1,000 employees.

The outlets are mostly located near residential areas and MRT stations.

Philanthropy

As part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a team of hairstylists was involved in ‘Hair For Hope’ from 2011 to 2014 where staff shaved thousands of heads for two days.

Since 2012, in order to support the Breast Cancer foundation (BCF), the Jean Yip Group of companies became a distribution outlet for BCF’s newly designed pink pins. Donation boxes were placed at outlets under the Jean Yip Group and all donations went to the BCF.