Hairdressing innovations: kamisori

Managing director Stephen Batt and technical director Jacqueline Keery came from very different backgrounds to launch Kamisori UK in March 2007. Since then, the Leeds-based business – specialising in high-quality Japanese blades in dazzling designs – has gone from strength to strength. Stephen explains how it all began.

What did you do before launching Kamisori UK?After training as a mechanical engineer, I started my own engineering company, aged 26. I’ve worked on projects making parts for NASA, the aerospace sector and Formula 1. Jacqueline has worked as a hairdresser for the past 25 years, in some of West Yorkshire’s top salons, and as a trainer. How did you two join forces?For the past 20 years I’ve been working with expensive steels. I was on the web looking at super alloy metals and came across some scissors made from extremely strong Damascus steel – this intrigued me. Why would hairdressing scissors be made from such high-quality steel? I imported £3,000 worth of these Japanese-made scissors to see for myself how well made they were. The grinding and honing was better than I’d ever seen in all my years in engineering – they were beautifully crafted. I showed them to Jacqueline to get a hairdressing expert’s opinion and she fell in love with them too. How did the idea for the business come up?We decided to push the brand forward with the aim of quickly establishing Kamisori as the best quality and most stylish ‘must have’ hairdressing scissors on the market. After research, we introduced more sizes and designs and started Kamisori UK a year ago.How did you finance it initially?I invested a six-figure sum in stock, and won the exclusive rights on these scissors for all of Europe. Since then we have invested in developing the Kamisori brand, initially here in the UK. How does running Kamisori UK fit with your previous experience?Having worked with a range of exotic metals, producing everything from space exploration components to medical equipment, I’ve learned that the best results come from using the best raw materials. What is your vision for Kamisori UK? We have a driving passion for quality and style with no compromise, matched only by our commitment to customer service – as demonstrated by our no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee. What makes your business unique? We work with several factories in Japan and one in Korea, satisfying our demand for the best quality work. The use of quality steels is a global affair – the best specialist steel in the world comes from Japan and Scandinavia. This is why we sell Japanese scissors made from Vanadis 10 (Scandinavian steel). What has been your biggest business challenge to dateWe launched at Salon International in October 2007. Making our industry debut there was very scary, but well worth it, and we created quite a stir. Being so successful at the show was totally overwhelming and exceeded all our expectations. How would you like to see the business develop?We want to be recognised by the trade as one of the leading scissors brands, for both quality and service. Long term we want to see "We don’t cut, we Kamisori" stickers in every major salon window! And as long as people all over Europe are as proud to own Kamisori scissors as we are to sell them, we’ll be happy.