7 June 2022: Holland & Barrett, the leading wellness retailer has announced the acquisition of Parla, as part of its strategy to extend its reach beyond retail through the offer of personalised wellness solutions.

Co-founded by Lina Chan with her husband Tyler Christie and Rose Acton in 2018, Parla’s mission is to break down the taboo surrounding women’s health issues and enable access to trusted and holistic support. 

Parla is the first-ever virtual support system to improve women’s mental wellness after pregnancy loss and beyond. It provides a safe and trusted space supporting ongoing informed conversation and scientific insights around women’s health and fertility experiences. 

Parla offers holistic, personalised care for a range of challenges including endometriosis, PCOS and pregnancy loss. Through its online programmes, participants join cohort-based learning programmes, which help bring together women who may have been through similar experiences and connect them with experts in fertility, psychology, nutrition and wellbeing. 

Holland & Barrett is known for its wide range of wellness products and advice, and it is now extending its reach to offer wider services and solutions across a range of healthcare topics that are currently underserved.

Tamara Rajah, Chief Business & Science Officer, Holland & Barrett said, “Our vision is to transform the wellness of 100m people by 2025, helping them achieve their personal wellness goals. This ambition takes us beyond our current retail business to offer a suite of different personalised diagnostics, services and solutions.  

Parla aims to tackle major underserved wellness needs that impact tens of millions of women around the world. Women who have experienced endometriosis, PCOS or pregnancy loss often struggle with where to turn. What stood out for Holland & Barrett with Parla is their focus on making these taboo topics more socialised, and their novel cohort-based model to address mental wellness through conversation, community and expert support. Holland & Barrett has been offering women advice on menopause and women’s health for over 50 years, so this is a natural extension of our business.”

Lina Chan, Founder of Parla commented, “Parla was inspired by my own experience with pregnancy loss and trouble conceiving. I always felt on the back foot. One in ten women in the UK currently suffer with endometriosis and PCOS¹, and one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage². I wanted to build something that helps women feel in control of their journey through these challenging experiences. Parla’s research found that cohort based learning is a particularly powerful support method when it comes to tackling taboo health areas as it combines access to expert coaching with peer support. We also offer at-home hormone testing, health quizzes and the opportunity to access personalised health insights. Our programmes are also supported by an app designed to help customers adopt the lifestyle interventions taught in each programme.”

Parla is officially launching the start of its next endometriosis programme by supporting the UK premiere of “Below the Belt,” a new US documentary about the injustices impacting women’s health. Directed by Shannon Cohn and Executive Produced by Hillary Clinton, the film reveals how millions of people with endometriosis are sidelined and silenced.

The screening in London on 8^th June will be followed by a live panel discussion with some of the biggest names in UK medicine and media – Candice Brathwaite, Pippa Vosper, Dr Anita Mitra aka Gynae Geek, Dr Nighat Arif, Lina Chan from Parla and Shannon Cohn will be exploring how storytelling, femtech innovation and community can help break the silence and improve healthcare outcomes for all.

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Notes to Editors 

• Parla offers free advice through their app and website including Free fertility health check
• Free meditation programmes, Fertility experts to support you, community to share and learn with
• Personalised programmes run for six weeks and cost from £141.  
• The next Endometriosis programme starts on 9^th June at 7pm GMT
• All women deserve access to the expertise and support they need to manage their endometriosis symptoms. So, Parla also offers a payment plan or scholarship for women in need of help
• Parla will run as a standalone business within Holland & Barrett

To speak to Lina Chan or Tamara Rajah, or for more information, please contact the Holland & Barrett press office on 0207 7100 7100 or [email protected]. 

About Holland & Barrett

Holland & Barrett is the UK’s leading wellness retailer and one of the largest in Europe. We make health and wellness a way of life for everyone, with a leading range of own brand, innovative vitamins, supplements, specialist food, sports nutrition, and ethical beauty brands. Established in 1870, Holland & Barrett has been trusted for wellness for over 150 years. Holland & Barrett has a retail presence of more than 1000 stores across 16 countries worldwide, including over 800 in the UK and Ireland, as well as a rapidly expanding e-commerce business. Holland & Barrett’s colleagues are “qualified to advise” with in depth training in nutrition and supplements to give accessible personalised advice to customers on their individual needs.