Our History

When choosing the academy that will help you achieve your career goal, it is crucial that you know and understand its history and values to ensure it will meet your requirements. Please take the time to read our history and learn more about how Ray Cochrane became one of the UK’s leading beauty aesthetics academies.

1954

Established in 1954 by the late Mrs Ray Cochrane, our beauty academy was founded based on her passion for providing the highest quality beauty training. At the time, Ray Cochrane Academy was called Ray Cochrane Beauty School, and it focused only on delivering the CIDESCO training, which everyone recognised as the most prestigious beauty qualification internationally.

1986

When the time came for Mrs Ray Cochrane to retire in 1986, she decided to pass her successful school over to her favourite student, Miss Baljeet Suri. Mrs Ray Cochrane knew that Baljeet would maintain the original high standards she had set for the school when founding our school, and she was right!

During Miss Baljeet Suri’s ownership, Ray Cochrane continued expanding and became the go-to for CIDESCO training. As each CIDESCO intake runs for a year, our school’s waiting list grew until Miss Suri had no choice but to start offering two to three intakes annually to keep up with the influx of interest.

In 1961, Ray Cochrane held the first CIDESCO exam in the UK, setting us apart from all the other beauty schools. Our dedication to providing the best and most up-to-date training became evident nationwide.

Our Present

2014

In 2014, Miss Baljeet Suri decided to step down and similar to how Mrs Ray Cochrane had passed the school on to her, she passed it on to her favourite student, Eleonora Androva and her partner, Xubin Yuan. Eleonora, an accomplished advanced aesthetician with a successful luxury clinic in London, teamed up with Xubin, a meticulous chartered accountant renowned for his commitment to excellence. Under their ownership, Ray Cochrane Beauty School was rebranded as Ray Cochrane Beauty Aesthetics Academy, however, it has maintained its esteemed reputation whilst taking a step in a more modern direction.

When Eleonora took over, she worked in the beauty industry and was in touch with the latest and most popular courses. She realised that not everyone had time to dedicate a year to a full-time beauty course when there were alternatives. She and Xubin decided to introduce VTCT courses which offered learners the same internationally recognised training as CIDESCO but on a more flexible schedule that would encourage more people to pursue their passion for beauty and aesthetics. Following this direction, our beauty school introduced laser, nail technician and facial aesthetic courses taking us from a beauty school offering only one qualification to a beauty aesthetic academy currently offering over 15 beauty and aesthetic specialised training courses in London.

2022

In 2022, Ray Cochrane was the number one VTCT Level 4 Laser & IPL training provider in the UK, with the most intakes nationwide annually. This was a huge honour and confirmed that moving into the aesthetic training field was the right decision for us as it showed our high-quality training was filling a gap in the market.

2023

In 2023, Ray Cochrane Beauty Aesthetics Academy was nominated for VTCT’s inaugural Excellence Awards.

Today

Finally, in 2024 we bid farewell to our cherished location at 118 Baker Street and embraced a fresh chapter at a brand new location, at 75 Baker Street. Our new academy, spanning three floors, is bathed in natural light and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. It also boasts a welcoming student lounge, providing an inspiring and modern space for our learners to thrive.

We are so proud of the growth our school has made running for 70 years. We’ve managed to uphold our values of being a family-run business focused on offering the best beauty and aesthetic training in the UK while keeping up with an ever-changing industry.

If you are interested in studying with a distinguished beauty and aesthetic academy that upholds its commitment to providing superior training through exceptional teaching staff and state-of-the-art equipment, we encourage you to explore our course offerings or contact us.