issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . no cleanup reason has been specified . please help improve this article if you can . march 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . february 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message the king of shaves company ltd. industry shaving and skincare genre shaving skincare razors blades and toiletries predecessor knowledge & merchandising inc. ltd. founded 1993 kmi 2009 kos co founder will king headquarters beaconsfield buckinghamshire england area served uk usa australia new zealand brazil japan south arica key people andy hill ceo will king founder karen heygate browne operations controller samantha danzine supply chain manager jane greenaway business systems . products king of shaves hyperglide azor queen of ... prostyle egrooming production output mainly in uk owner private shareholders number of employees 14 1 website http www.shave.com the king of shaves company ltd. is a british toiletries company headquartered in beaconsfield buckinghamshire england . the king of shaves brand was founded in 1993 by will king . the company was demerged from knowledge & merchandising inc. ltd. on 1 june 2009 . it is owned by the king of shaves holding company ltd. contents 1 history 2 razors and blades 3 mergers and acquisitions 4 criticism 5 sponsorships 6 references 7 external links history edit will king founded knowledge & merchandising inc. ltd. kmi the company which owned the king of shaves brand in 1993 . in 2009 the king of shaves company ltd. was demerged from kmi 2 3 and the company appointed atul sharma as cfo and chris outram 4 as non executive chairman of both the king of shaves company ltd. and kmi now kmi brands ltd . since 2009 king of shaves has used a business model similar to that used by coca cola with a central office controlling research and development whilst production and point of sale is localised to a specific market . 1 the success of this model has varied . though in 2009 the company s merchandise was stocked in at least 7 separate countries from 2007 the turnover went from 13.9 million to 25 million in 2008 to 10 million by 2012 . 5 6 7 on 22 june 2009 the company announced a shaving bond issue of up to five thousand 1 000 non transferable and non convertible bonds which was reported in the press 8 9 10 and described by will king as being an innovative way to potentially raise money from up to 5 000 brand enthusiasts . the issue was overseen by fsa regulated accountancy firm bdo stoy hayward with legal advice provided by memery crystal llp . 11 in october 2011 the king of shaves company signed a multi year agreement with spectrum brands holdings inc owner of remington branded electrical grooming products to exclusively distribute king of shaves products in the usa and canada . the distribution agreement was dissolved in 2012 after breaches of contract by spectrum brands 12 on 27 october 2014 it was announced that will king would be stepping down as ceo with andy hill appointed as the new ceo . 13 razors and blades edit king of shaves launched a 4 blade razor call the azor in the uk in late 2008 . they launched a 5 blade razor called the azor 5 in the uk in early 2011 . the cartridges featured blades manufactured by kai industries in japan a shareholder 14 in king of shaves . the azor 5 was discontinued in early 2014 and was replaced by the hyperglide system razor . all the razors have been designed and manufactured in the uk with cartridges developed in collaboration with kai . mergers and acquisitions edit in march 2008 kmi acquired the issued share capital of floraroma ltd. which owns women s toiletries brands including phil smith delicious beauty dead sea source little me derma mum and floracologie . in october 2009 kmi acquired the naked skincare brand . 15 criticism edit in 2009 the company offered savings bonds with 6 % pa interest rate to consumers . these savings bonds rely on the company s growth in order to fund the returns . this scheme was not covered by the financial services compensation scheme and at the time of application consumers were unable to get reports on how well the company was performing . 16 17 in 2012 a fresh batch of bonds were released to existing bondholders only though the ability to redeem them has been withheld for a number of years with no change to their status with regulators . 18 sponsorships edit king of shaves has sponsored athletes throughout great britain . during 2006 they sponsored john terry and p1 offshore powerboat . 19 in later years they sponsored both chrissy palmer for mrf formula ford races but also jordan king son of justion king former ceo of sainsbury s during his f3 races . 20 2012 saw the company sponsor james ellington the ebay athlete and back the welsh extreme 40 catamaran . 21 22 references edit a b rock matthew 29 april 2013 . how positive start up innovation is making full time work redundant . city a.m. p. 20 . access date requires url help http www.growingbusiness.co.uk king of shaves gears up for global expansion.html http www.memerycrystal.com articles 23 06 2009 memery crystal advises new client king of shaves on demerger from knowledge and merchandising inc.aspx http www.occstrategy.com node 389 http www.thisismoney.co.uk markets article.html in article id 440580 & in page id 3 bentley diana . on track for top entrepreneurs prize . the times . london . bridge rachel 9 december 2012 . for ceos it can be good to talk ; think tank . the sunday telegraph . london . p. 8 . access date requires url help booth jenny 23 june 2009 . business big shot will king king of shaves . the times . london . http news.sky.com skynews home business king of shaves tries to raise 5 million pounds by issuing bonds to customers article 200906415315203 lpos business first buisness article teaser region 2 & lid article 15315203 king of shaves tries to raise 5 million pounds by issuing bonds to customers http www.thisismoney.co.uk investing article.html in article id 487867 & in page id 166 & position moretopstories http www.memerycrystal.com uploaded articles other % 20files website % 20 % 20the % 20lawyer % 20 % 20king % 20of % 20shaves.pdf bridge sarah 2 june 2013 . king of shaves reaches fresh us deal . mail on sunday . london . access date requires url help http www.cosmeticsbusiness.com news article page will king exits king of shaves 102851 quinn james 13 august 2011 . king of shaves cuts japan deal . the daily telegraph . london . http www.kmibrands.com news kmi gets a new look from page 1 james coney 1 july 2009 . warning over risky shaving bond . daily mail . retrieved 13 april 2010 . but despite being advertised as a savings bond this scheme actually invests in the king of shaves company ; specifically for the company s marketing . it is not a savings account . essentially the shaving bond is a corporate bond but one issued for a non listed company . whether you get a return depends on the health of this firm . your money is locked away for three years . every six months the company says it will pay you 3pc interest which you will have to declare to the taxman . patrick hosking 27 june 2009 . sweeney todd would blush . the times . retrieved 13 april 2010 . in the offer literature there are risk warnings but no information on the history of the company no profit and loss account no balance sheet and no details on how the bonds would rank in the event of a winding up . the company has no track record having only recently been demerged from a larger business . according to mr king it hasn t even yet been decided how much bank finance should be apportioned to the new business . alas no rational investor could possibly invest in the bonds on the basis of such sparse data . the upside may be a chunky 6 per cent income for comparison mainstream bank three year bonds now yield about 4 per cent but the downside is that investors are locked in for three years . they could also lose every neck stinging penny if king of shaves were to fail . line feed character in quote at position 429 help dunn sam 29 august 2012 . why gambling on higher rates may put your savings at risk . daily mail . london . access date requires url help ashton neil 28 september 2012 . captain leader legend ... outcast . daily mail . access date requires url help brown oliver 1 march 2013 . king of the road has right formula ; motor racing interview jordan king reveals to oliver brown how being son of sainsbury s chief is helping his fl ambitions . the daily telegraph . london . p. 16 . access date requires url help scott matt 25 september 2012 . umbro drop defender s deal . the daily telegraph . p. 2 . access date requires url help hannah comes home for exciting event ; sailing . south wales echo . 22 august 2012 . p. 3 . access date requires url help external links edit official consumer website for king of shaves retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title king of shaves & oldid 677627585 categories personal care brandsbritish brandsshavingshaving cream brandshidden categories pages using citations with accessdate and no urlcs1 errors invisible charactersarticles needing cleanup from march 2010all articles needing cleanupcleanup tagged articles without a reason field from march 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