Yvonne is first Oriflame rep in Britain and Ireland to top €1m sales

A mother-of-three is set to become the first sales consultant, in Ireland and Britain, to generate sales of over €1m in a single calendar year for international cosmetic firm, Oriflame.

Yvonne Flavin, 47, a native of Laois, is set to bring in the sales of over €1m for 2013.

The Swedish direct sales firm sells its beauty, personal care, nutritional and accessory products directly via teams of independent salespeople, who add up to over three million worldwide.

Founded in 1967, Oriflame operates in 63 countries. It entered the UK market in 1970 and recruited its first seller in Ireland two years later.

The company also has a large European R&D facility in Bray, Co Wicklow.

To date, no individual salesperson — who usually receives around 10% commission per sale — in Oriflame’s UK and Ireland network has racked up sales of over €1m for the company, in a single year. However, the firm announced yesterday that 47-year-old Laois native, Yvonne Flavin, who operates a mini sales team of 1,100 people, is set to bring in sales of €1m+ for 2013.

Ms Flavin, who joined Oriflame as a part-time consultant in 1987, before being made a regional manager, said that between last April and the end of next April, her sales team should have generated 12 months worth of sales of more than €2.5m.

Oriflame’s Irish staff numbers and sales figures were boosted by Avon leaving Ireland.

Oriflame’s sales here jumped by 500% since last April when rival Avon pulled out.

Now Oriflame is looking to recruit a further 2,500 consultants in Ireland this year.

Ms Flavin has been leading the firm’s recruitment efforts here and said that many people had been attracted by the opportunities the company offered.