Graham is Founder & Director of British male grooming brand men-ü. He believes the men’s market represents one of if not the biggest opportunity in beauty & that the only way to introduce men to quality grooming is with products that are different to make a difference. Reassuringly with men-ü, in a competitive & challenging market, there has been steady & significant growth over the years since launch in 2000, with salon training (Habia CPD approved) academy opened in 2011.
He supported Philip Kingsley for 6 years up until the end of 2017, with sales trebling during this time. Philip was a close friend for over 25 years & a world leading trichologist (science of hair & scalp) with an internationally renowned product range & clinics in Mayfair, London & New York.
He previously worked for Alberto Culver for 20 years with the VO5, Tresemme, Alberto & Indola brands. This included starting a business in South Africa (a lot easier with strong brands & someone else’s money!), turned the Australian business around, expanded Alberto Culver in the Far East and headed up the Europe, Middle East & Africa region. The latter involved turning around the loss making UK division & taking VO5 styling to Number 1, developing Tresemme professionally & building overall sales with a very significant pre tax profit.
In addition, he has worked with venture capital with his best work as Chairman & CEO, saw the recovery & sale of a contract manufacturing business for 3i in Thetford.
Graham’s business philosophy is relatively simple (like him!) in that the primary objective is to minimise the number of mistakes made & in order to do this, one brings as much successful experience as possible to bear in the decision making process. He believes in the acronym SEVI – Successful Experience Versus Intuition.