'Clooney' beards blamed for trimming razor profits

Mr King, who started his shaving products business 21 years ago, said the “beard phase”, during which the Hollywood actor Clooney and TV presenter Paxman both boasted facial hair, had affected the whole sector.

“Sales across the shaving industry were actually down in the UK and US last year for the first time because of guys not shaving, because of the celebrity beard, and partly because of the recession,” he said.

“[The downturn] took five years from the start of the recession, and maybe it has been spurred on by the whole internet entrepreneur look, the 'I work in Shoreditch, I don’t need to shave’ look.”

King of Shaves will unveil the Hyperglide, the first wet-shave razor that doesn’t need any foam, gel or oil. The unisex razor – 97pc of which is manufactured in the UK – has a “hydrophilic” coating around the blade that makes it slippery.

The coating was devised by a University of Sheffield spin-off company, which was using the coating for catheters for hospital operations.

In producing the new razor, funded in part by £8.5m of equity raising over the last five years, Mr King is pitching himself against the dominant market player Gillette, owned by Procter & Gamble, which has an 84pc market share.

Mr King thinks his new product can take on the bigger players. “Our razor makes Gillette’s look obsolete,” he said.

“We’re trying to do with razor and blades what Apple has done in the smartphone sector or what Samsung has done in flat-screen televisions.”

The new product – which will retail at £9.99 for a single razor and one cartridge – will be sold through Asda, Boots, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

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