Will King - The man behind men's grooming brand King Of Shaves
Name: Will King Nationality: British Companies run: Knowledge & Merchandising Inc. Ltd. (incorporating the King of Shaves brand, and licenses for Ted Baker fragrances & premium toiletries, Fish & AngelFish hairstyling lines, Patently Obvious toiletries and skincare range, Hed Kandi beauty products, and Floraroma Ltd) Born August 18th 1965, Will King, the founder and CEO of KMI, the company that owns King of Shaves was made redundant in the early 1990s from his marketing job with Fountainhead Communications (previously Hedges Wright Creative). He had always experienced problems with shaving, and in 1992, whilst at home, created a shaving oil product that eased the pain, rash and burn he suffered whilst shaving. Following a visit to a Henley-on-Thames based chemist which sold essential oils, he experimented with them until he arrived at the formulation for his first shaving oil, finding that using an oil to shave gave him a smooth shave but without aggravating his skin. King had graduated with a 2:2 Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Portsmouth Polytechnic, having initially wanted to study Ship Science & Yacht Design at Southampton University. King then approached London department store Harrods and after faxing owner Al-Fayed direct, secured his personal agreement to stock the new product. He then hand-filled 9,600 bottles in his kitchen. The process, which took two weeks, coincided with the annual Wimbledon tennis championships in London. King recalls watching the tournament as he filled the bottles using a 'gunk pump' that dispensed 2ml per stroke, supplied to him by a friend in the yacht building industry. At first Harrods (Knightsbridge, London) sold one shaving oil every two weeks and the company's first year sales (1993-4) were £300. Now, in 2008, the King of Shaves brand is stocked in approximately 30,000 stores worldwide including the USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South America. It is estimated that one King of Shaves product is sold every 3.5 seconds. The company states that annual (group) wholesale turnover is forecast to be £25 million in 2008 (£13.9 million in 2007). In recent press articles, King describes KMI as a 'boutique P&G'; (P&G, or Procter & Gamble, is the huge US fast moving consumer goods firm that owns brands like Gillette, Duracell and Braun. His motto is 'Enthuse, Exceed, Enjoy'. King incorporated KMI (Knowledge & Merchandising Inc. Ltd.) on April 13th 1993. It is this company which owns the King of Shaves brand, along with other 'premium-mass' toiletries brands. Initially running the company from his home in Chalfont St. Giles, he was joined by Herbie Dayal (also a founding shareholder, previously with Booz.Allen & Hamilton and Matrix Management Consulting) as full-time chairman in 1995, as well as Andy Hill, their first employee (now Managing Director). Hill met King when he rented him a snowboard in December 1993 in Val d'Isere. Brands: The company now owns, licenses and promotes other brands in the male and female grooming markets including Ted Baker (fine fragrances & premium toiletries), Fish & AngelFish (cult hairstyling lines for men & women), Patently Obvious (a green 'clean without compromise') toiletries & skincare and in 2007 licensed Hed Kandi beauty from Ministry of Sound. In 2008, it also purchased Floraroma Ltd. from Joanne Sinclair (see below). Individual King of Shaves brands include KOS.PRO (Salon Professional), K2 (Technical Shave & Skincare), XCD (Skin Enhancing Skincare) & KU (Young Men's Skincare) as well as King of Shaves Woman. According to IRI, the brand was the second largest selling shaving preparations brand by value in the UK to the end of May 2008.
You are seeing this content because you dont have flash player.To install Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Download Flash Player 9 now for free at Adobe.com
