Norfolk Chamber of Commerce

The King of Shaves brand was created by Will King in the depths of the UK recession in the early 1990s.

Following redundancy, King decided to build his own business, King of Shaves, and his first product was shaving oil, which solved his personal problem with shaving - razor burn. It wasn't long before he was filling thousands of small plastic bottles in the kitchen of his home, and then his big break came when he landed a deal for Harrods to stock his product in September 1993, followed by Boots in May 1994.

But that's all history now.

Fast forward eighteen years and today over thirty different King of Shaves brand products, including the iconic wet shave system razor, the Azor, are stocked in all major outlets across the UK as well as being available in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa and Brazil.  King of Shaves products are also sold throughout America in a landmark distribution deal with Remington and the company has recently launched its first electrical range, sold exclusively in Argos.  King of Shaves is second only to Gillette in the UK for shaving “software”, and King is a multi award-winning businessman, and considered by many as one of the UK's most creative and passionate entrepreneurs.

Although he graduated from Portsmouth Polytechnic (University of Portsmouth) in 1987 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he moved to London, and his first job was selling advertising space for Marketing Magazine. Discovering an aptitude for sales, he rapidly moved into the world of corporate events and marketing communications, rising quickly until the recession of the early 1990s brought substantial cutbacks to marketing spends and the young King was made redundant.

This was the opportunity King needed to focus his energy, and the King of Shaves Company was born. With funding secured from family and close friends, King set out on his mission to build King of Shaves into a global men's wet shaving challenger brand to Gillette and Wilkinson Sword.

However the product wasn't an instant success and sales in the first year totalled just £300 against a £30,000 loss! But, King drew on his marketing skills and worked hard to roll out the King brand into supermarkets to ensure broader distribution. It worked, and with the advent of the internet (King purchased shave.com for US$35) King of Shaves was in the vanguard of the growing men's grooming market, and by 1997 the company's turnover had increased to over £1m, doubling year on year.

By 2004, turnover at KMI, the company King founded, was over £11m. The product range had grown dramatically and King had also begun the research and development phase for the first British designed, engineered and manufactured wet razor. In June 2008 the King of Shaves Azor was launched, securing the number three best selling manual system handle in the UK* in 2010. 

The Azor, manufactured in the UK was unique in its design and approach to the wet shave market, using a patented flexible hinge with ‘Bendology Technology' to deliver a product that 'shaved closer, lasted longer and cost less'.  In the two and a half years since launch, the company introduced a new cartridge and several handles including the Azor S, Azor M, Azor Sensitive and the Azor 5.

Despite the global recession, King of Shaves continued to innovate and grow and in June 2009, King pioneered an innovative 3 year 'Shaving Bond' scheme, inviting customers to invest into the business at an interest rate of 6% a year, the proceeds to be used to market his brand. This was successful, and in 2010 the idea was also adopted by Hotel Chocolat (with a Chocolate Bond) and green power generation company, Ecotricity (with their EcoBond).

In September 2009, King's first book, "How To Build A Great Business In Tough Times - The King of Shaves Story" was published by Headline Publishing, reaching the No. 1 Business Book slot at WH Smith's, where it remained for the whole of September.  The book, already in its second imprint offers an inspirational insight for both entrepreneurs and consumers into the building of a successful multi-million pound business in a hugely competitive sector.

In May, 2012, King launched the King of Shaves Sub, a pioneering online subscription service allowing customers to subscribe for King of Shaves Azor razor blades to be delivered to their door by post for as little as £3 a month. 

King of Shaves is a multi-award winning business being named the T-Mobile Fast Growth Business, and the Product Business of the Year at the Growing Business Awards (2009) and named the CBI and Real Business Company of the Year in 2008.  He was the regional winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for London and the South East region in 2009 and subsequently he also became a judge for the CBI Real Business Awards 2009, the O2 Entrepreneur X Business Awards 2009, the IOD Director of the Year Award 2010 and the Growing Business Awards 2010.  He is also regarded as one of the UK's leading practitioners in the use of social media from a company and brand perspective.