London Spa Days

One of the most exciting trends in the UK spa industry at the moment is the growing popularity of fish pedicures.

With that in mind we caught up with Damien Zannetou, Director of Anesis, a fish spa in Clapham.

It has quickly become recognised as the leading fish spa in the UK, so we had a chat with Damien to find out more about himself, the company, and how customers are responding to this new spa treatment.

- Would you be able to provide a little information about yourself?

So my background is property, I am by trade a property developer in South West London and have been for over a decade. I adore being creative, building properties with a unique feel in terms of decor etc.

When I decided to pursue Anesis, I wanted to put my years of property experience in to my masterpiece and create something truly captivating, chic and boutique.

I had a fish pedicure last year and this was a very new concept in the UK with only one company at the time doing it. In fact it was very new worldwide.

I decided that Clapham needed a fish spa but in a luxury environment where treatments were further extended with the use of nail colour, massage, file and paint etc, something other spas weren’t doing.

- For those people who haven’t heard about or visited Anesis before, can you tell us a little about the experience and what to expect?

I themed the spa in snake skin metallic tiles and upholstery, luxury floor tiles, stunning 2m glass water features to give the impression of a waterfall and lit the area very low with LED lighting and the use of fibre optics.

I wanted to target a demographic with a high disposable income who would be prepared to pay a little extra to get that luxury treatment.

All our clients are treated like royalty from the moment they enter the door to the moment they leave. We offer champagne, 3D TV and a selection of magazines to read whilst having their treatment.

They can sit back and relax to the sounds of running water, enjoy the ambience and listen to the mood relaxing music that can let them just drift away!

- Anesis Spa has attracted many celebrities since launching in 2010. Who would you say has been your most famous visitor and have any become regular visitors?

We have met people from Gary Oldman and Mark Strong to Keith Lemon, Kerry Katona, Denise Van Outen, Sophie Anderton, The Only Way Is Essex, The Wanted, the cast from Cori, Hollyoaks and many more.

In fact I don’t think there isn’t someone we haven’t met but most of these are on our website www.anesis.uk.com.

- What’s the story behind the name Anesis?

My origin being Greek I created the words for Fish and To Relax thus Icythus Anesis, eventually the abbreviation for Icythus being the fish symbol became the A for Anesis and then it was born!

- In 2006 fish pedicure salons opened in Japan and two years later the first one opened in the US. Why do you think it took until 2010 for one to open in the UK?

Think it took some time in the UK to open because of clients’ perceptions. Having feet nibbled by fish is still quite a strange concept in the UK but it’s getting clients to experience it. Once they notice the benefits they always come back.

We even had a skin sufferer who has been cured as a result and some clients have had pain relief from the treatment due to pin pointing the feet like reflexology.

I think Brits are becoming more tuned to it and this has just caused Europe to follow trend hence the interest in France and Spain.

- At Anesis you decided to only offer fish pedicures rather than manicures as well. What’s the reason behind this?

At Anesis we only offer fish pedicures as we decided this was more hygienic. It’s very easy for clients to use their hands during a fish manicure which can be disastrous to the fish. We decided against them.

- How does a piscean pedicure compare to an ordinary pedicure?

With a Piscean Pedicure the fish will focus on problem areas and only suck off dead skin cells. This helps to balance the foot removing hard skin in a painless exercise which is actually very relaxing and of course fantastic for the fish, as this is what they would do in the wild. They also release diathanol in their saliva during the suction process which acts as a rejuvenating enzyme.

A normal pedicure involves a foot scrub and file, our fish do all the work and it’s fun to do.

- How frequently can you have these kinds of manicures and pedicures?

30 minutes in a tank is always recommended but we would advise once a fortnight. This would generate fantastic results. Our skin sufferer was cured in 3 treatments!

- There have been a couple of scare stories in the press about fish pedicures not being safe. What are your thoughts on this?

Our systems are perfectly safe and highly advanced. The water cleans itself 20 times an hour through a segregated filtration process of sump pumps, polyfilters, UV sterlisers etc. We have a highly advanced system which puts us above our competitors.

I believe there a lot of cowboy organisations out there trying to capitalise in the short term. I’ve heard horror stories of the wrong breed of fish being used, communal systems which share water leaving it discoloured and not been treated properly.

All our clients face a thorough inspection of the foot before they even enter the tank. They are wiped down properly to remove all possible bacteria that could contaminate the tanks and the filtration system does the rest.

I would love to see more control over this therapy through regulations as ultimately we are dealing with livestock and its important that companies become more socially, environmentally and ethically responsible.

- At the moment there’s one Anesis Spa in London. Do you have any plans to open up more spas in London or anywhere else?

We’ve been trading for 6 months and have already opened 3 further locations in Ibiza, one in Marbella and are about to go in to Harvey Nichols in Dublin.

Apart from the spas mentioned above in Europe we are about to franchise and start advertising next week. We already have some strong interest and welcome anyone interested in learning more about the business by contacting me and we can forward on the relevant franchise and advertising packs: damien (at) anesis.uk.com

- Finally, for the first time visitor what treatment would you recommend?

We offer a ten minute trial for clients to get use to the sensation but as mentioned 30 minutes minimum is always recommended for noticeable results.

Anesis Address: 14 The Pavement, Clapham Commom, London SW4 0HY
Tel: 0207 627 1500

Ready to try out Anesis? Take a look at our selection of Anesis Spa offers.