ghd founder takes on his old firm with Cloud Nine Hair

YORKSHIRE-BASED Cloud Nine Hair, set up by the founder of ghd, is looking at worldwide growth just three years after it launched.

The Ilkley business has already achieved £9m annual turnover through sales of its hair irons, wands and its induction heated roller sets called The O.

The business was founded by former hairdresser Robert Powls, who set up ghd with the support of investors Gary Douglas and Martin Penny in 1999 and walked away with £15m after a buyout of the firm in 2006.

Mr Powls bought a yacht in the south of France and spent three years enjoying semi-retirement before launching Cloud Nine Hair with his two stepsons Martin and Gavin Rae – who both worked with him at ghd – when his three-year non-compete clause with ghd expired.

And his new business is already going head-to-head with ghd, poaching its managing director and six other senior staff in Germany three months ago which is predicted to add £1.5m of sales this year.

Cloud Nine Hair sells its products – which retail for between £50 and £150 – through 1,600 hair salons in the UK, as well as Harvey Nichols and via its own website where it sells 30% of its products.

It has launched in 23 countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Russia.

While not making direct comparisons with ghd, Mr Powls points out what makes their products unique.

“We want to be innovative and want the best products on the market. These are not just irons, they have a temperature control,” says Mr Powls, who says the marketing slogan for the product is: ‘Less heat more style’.

“We make three wands and three irons, the wands, the curling products, sold out at Christmas,” says managing director Martin Rae.

The firm is working with the Korean manufacturer who Mr Powls first worked with to develop the production of ghd irons.

“It cost us £1m to develop The O. We didn’t have a huge advertising budget so we had to let the products prove themselves.”

And they seem to have impressed the industry, garnering seven awards last year including Hairdressers Journal innovation of the year.

Mr Powls insists that unlike with ghd, he is keen to build his business and is not looking for a quick exit.

“We are enjoying it, we are ambitious, we’re not looking to sell out – we want to build a business. We are working to build a brand, it’s not about volume, it’s about quality. We only have one colour and it’s black. We don’t do gimmicks,” he said.

Martin Rae added: “As far as the industry is concerned we always felt there was some unfinished business.”

“We have a lot more to give,” said Mr Powls.