Entrpreneur Tom Allsworth's crowning glory
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It's a case of local boy done good as Tom Allsworth is
unknowingly embraced every day by millions of women who wash that
colour right out of their hair.
The entrepreneur who works just minutes from where he was born
in Queenborough 45 years ago founded the multi-million pound
venture Medichem International in his 20s.
Now it is worth more than £10m a year, not forgetting the
substantial sum he raised from selling a major part of it in 2009,
and the income from a property empire spanning 50 properties across
Sheppey.
Medichem made its name from chemical products, mainly
disinfectants, cleaning agents and animal welfare.
It has kept up a manufacturing tradition on Sheppey while many
others have fallen by the wayside amid stiff Far East
competition.
Allsworth had found the elixir of business success, make a
product that's washed down the drain and bought again and
again.
He was never a chemist but tapped into good advice from a
specialist. "What can you mix in a big vat, put in a bottle and
sell to people who will use it and buy more of it?" he says.
But he never wanted a cleaning company. "Added value was
important rather than just volume. We never sell on price, always
on quality."
After 17 years, Allsworth tired of some of his chemical products
and accepted an offer too good to refuse. But he retained
manufacturing for a while to keep his workforce, now around 50,
fully employed. "The business needed to refresh itself," he
says.
There was no Plan B. How would he replace the £5 million of lost
sales? The answer was ColourB4.
Consumer feedback told him that many hair colourants did not
work.
Products that restored hair to the original colour were confined
to salons.
So Allsworth and his team worked on a formulation that would
fill the gap. They came up with ColourB4 - the name was invented at
the Rushenden Road plant - a sales sensation, with TV and other
advertising making it a big seller in well-know stores chains.
Allsworth says that regular use of hair dye causes a buildup in
the hair that should be cleaned regularly. By promoting this idea,
he has turned a "disaster" product, bought only when something goes
wrong, into a "maintenance" line.
"What can you mix in a big vat, put in a bottle and sell to people who will use it and buy more of it..?” – entrepreneur Tom Allsworth
Turnover has returned to £10m. "When the whole world has been
worried about the economic downturn, we've completely replaced the
£5m of business we sold. It's rejuvenated my excitement in the
business."
Entrepreneurs need constantly to innovate, He cites his hero Sir
Richard Branson, who has changed his business many times.
ColourB4 is now sold across Europe, South Africa and Australia,
and Allsworth is poised to land a US deal.
A sleek Bentley with a personalised number plate in the company
car park is an outward show of Allsworth's success.
His first marriage ended a while ago, he has three children from
that, and now lives with his partner of 15 years and seven-year-old
son.
But he is all too aware that business success can change. His
property portfolio was developed as an insurance against possible
business failure elsewhere.
He earned a sharp lesson from his parents when he was in his
teens and saw their business run into difficulties.
He loves Medichem, 20 years old in 2012, and has no plans to
sell up.
Tuesday, February 07 2012
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