Our business spotlight features to date have been heavily focused on Haslemere’s retail sector. But we’re very conscious that there are plenty of independent businesses operating ‘behind the scenes’ in Haslemere, many from people’s homes. Our October business spotlight shines the light on one such business – Hairetic – founded by local resident Andrew Rayner. We found his story inspiring and hope you do too.

Andrew is on a mission to shake up the UK haircare market, fundamentally changing the way that people think about anti-dandruff products. His is an inspirational story which we are excited to share with you.

Andrew’s route to launching his own business has been shaped by nearly 20 years in health and beauty. This included seven years at Procter & Gamble (the company behind number 1 haircare brand Head & Shoulders) as well as several years working at a senior level in growing consumer brands such as Child’s Farm and Medic8. After helping to build and sell businesses, Andrew decided that the time was right to put that experience into creating something of his own.

The result is Hairetic: a Haslemere-based range of anti-dandruff haircare products designed to feel more like premium everyday haircare than a medicinal product.

Spotting an opportunity

The idea for Hairetic came from a simple observation. While the wider haircare market has transformed enormously over the past couple of decades, Andrew felt the anti-dandruff category had barely moved. The products may work, but many still come with clinical-looking packaging and a distinctly functional image. Put simply, he would argue that there is no anti-dandruff product that consumers are proud to display on their bathroom shelf.

Andrew saw an opportunity to create something different. That mattered to him because dandruff is also not just a physical problem. He told us, ‘For many people, particularly teenagers and younger adults, having dandruff can really affect someone’s confidence.’ Andrew wants Hairetic to feel like a normal, desirable haircare brand rather than something people feel they need to hide.

Andrew hopes he has achieved just that. Hairetic combines effective scalp care with attractive packaging, good fragrance and a product people would genuinely enjoy using. In short, something that ‘people would actually be happy to leave on the bathroom shelf,’ Andrew told us.

Three Years in the Making

Taking an initial idea to the finished product on sale today took far longer than Andrew initially expected. But Andrew didn’t take any short cuts. Keen not to use an off-the-shelf formulation, he instead worked closely with manufacturers and laboratories to develop the product from scratch. From his kitchen table, he experimented with a host of different combinations of active ingredients, natural extracts, fragrances and base formulations.

Over the course of development, around 120 versions were considered and then refined before the final formulations were agreed. Andrew was particularly focused on understanding not just which ingredients were included, but why they were there and what each one was intended to do.

The finished range uses ingredients including organic aloe vera, rosemary, willow bark and nettle extract. 99% of ingredients are of natural-origin and are designed for regular use on sensitive scalps.

The range currently includes a Sensitive Shampoo, Sensitive Conditioner and a 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner.

Testing before launch

For Andrew, getting the formulation right was only one part of the process. The products had to go through safety assessments, stability testing, dermatological testing and independent user trials before coming to market. The results from these tests are impressive. 87% of participants in one four-week user trial noticed fewer visible flakes, while 78% reported fewer visible flakes after the first wash.

This evidence is really important to Andrew. He wanted the brand to be built around products people could enjoy using, but which also had proper testing behind them. As he put it, ‘There is little point in creating beautiful packaging if the product inside does not perform.’ And when you’re planning to go head-to-head against one of the world’s biggest haircare brands – Head & Shoulders – technology is paramount.

But he readily admitted that waiting for the results of the user trials was ‘the scary part’ of the planning process.

A truly sustainable brand

Andrew was equally passionate about the environmental credentials of the business. Hairetic products are certified by The Vegan Society and Cruelty Free International, while the bottles are made from 100% recycled Prevented Ocean Plastic. The company also commits 1% of turnover to environmental causes through 1% for the Planet.

For Andrew, these decisions were less about adding marketing claims to the label and more about trying to make sensible choices while developing the business. Where possible, he has also chosen to work with British suppliers and manufacturers.

It was incredibly refreshing to hear of Andrew’s approach as a whole. He is a huge supporter of British business and wants to support industry here in the UK. Every element of the product comes from the UK. His accountant is local, whilst Hairetic bottles come from Suffolk, and the manufacturing and labelling is done by a Leeds based business.

In reality, Andrew could have created the product for less by looking overseas but wanted to ensure that the suppliers he created wealth for other UK businesses.

A Haslemere business with big ambitions

Hairetic is a young brand and Andrew is clear that he wants to build it carefully. Having previously seen brands expand their distribution quickly, he is conscious that simply getting products onto shelves is not the same as building a sustainable business. Whilst many might think the first step would be to approach big retailers such as Boots and Superdrug, he is intentionally launching this in small independent retailers first. As a result, there is no point having products on shelves if the demand and awareness is not yet there to drive purchases.

Instead, with the help, support and expertise of independent retailers, he can focus on growing awareness, collecting reviews, and talking directly to customers. The good news is that Haslemere residents can purchase a bottle from Apothecary 27, just round the corner from Andrew’s home. It’s also possible to buy Hairetic through Andrew’s own website and via Amazon.

‘I am a huge support of local, independent businesses,’ Andrew said. ‘When it gets to the point of launching in large high street retailers and in supermarkets, I want to make sure that I’m still supporting the small, local businesses that are supporting us now. That support might even be an exclusive product only available for them to sell.’

Life as an entrepreneur

Launching Hairetic has certainly been a roller coaster ride for Andrew and his family. It has meant swapping the safety net of established corporate structures for the uncertainty of running a small business.

After years of working in senior roles, Andrew is now involved in almost every part of the company himself, from product development and packaging to marketing, customer feedback and sales. There is inevitably a degree of nervousness that comes with that. Sales can vary from one month to the next and, as with many start-ups, there is always another decision to make. But that is also part of what Andrew enjoys.

‘After years helping other businesses grow, Hairetic is an opportunity for me to put that experience into my own brand,’ Andrew told us. ‘It is a real family business too. Our two children have helped with videos for tiktok and social media and we all celebrate whenever we make a new sale.’

‘Hairetic is currently in 10 stores throughout the UK. You can buy it in Haslemere at Apothecary 27, but we’re also stocked in a store in Brighton as well as in London, Devon and Yorkshire.’

David versus Goliath

At the heart of Hairetic is a relatively simple idea: dandruff haircare does not have to look or feel like a treatment. Andrew wants the brand to appeal both to long-term dandruff sufferers and to people encountering scalp problems for the first time - particularly younger consumers who may be reluctant to buy traditional anti-dandruff products. The branding therefore deliberately takes a different direction, with contemporary packaging, natural fragrance and an emphasis on scalp health rather than embarrassment.

As the business grows, Andrew hopes Hairetic can become a recognised British name in the category while continuing to support UK manufacturing and independent retailers.

For now, however, the focus remains on taking things one step at a time: listening to customers, growing the brand carefully and proving that even one of the most established corners of the haircare market can still be reinvented.

As it stands today, he has 10,000 bottles ready to sell. His focus this month though is to sell just 100 of these before month end. He doesn’t look too far ahead. Instead, he looks at the two or three things he can do each day which will help make that additional sale or grow awareness.

We want to wish Andrew all the very best with Hairetic. This is a real David versus Goliath story but, having spent a couple of hours in Andrew’s company, we’re confident that if anyone can compete successfully against the giants behind Head & Shoulders, it’s him and Hairetic.

If you are reading this and are running your own business in Haslemere and would like to be featured in one of our future business spotlights, please do get in touch.