British Female Inventor & Innovator of the Year Awards 2008
For immediate release: 13th March 2008
London Innovator, Dee Wright, took home the coveted Boots sponsored Award for Innovation in the Health and Beauty sector, at the British Female Inventor & Innovator of the Year Awards in Cardiff on Tuesday 11th March.
Her business, The Hairforce – Lice Assassins is a revolutionary new chemical free nit and lice clearing service which brings much needed change to a product dominated market – where 80% of those products openly fail the consumer.
Positioned as ‘doing a Jamie Oliver’ for nits and head lice, The Hairforce is a unique nit and head lice clearing service with a growing team of highly skilled Lice Assassins, who professionally clear hair, taking the pressure off the parents and removing the stigma for children.
The Hairforce service is chemical free – all the nits and lice are removed by hand. The Lice Assassins are equipped to clear with lice hoovers, specialist lighting, medical magnifying visors, LiceMeister nit combs, and specialist tweezers - plus a streak of ruthlessness to go with them. While the Lice Assassins clear, the child is kept comfy in a special massage chair and occupied throughout with the latest computer games, magazines and DVD’s.
Nits and head lice are of epidemic proportions in the UK. It is estimated that nearly half of all 4 to 11 year olds – that’s an astounding 3 million children – are plagued by lice and nits each year. In addition siblings under 4 and over 11, parents, grandparents and teachers are all susceptible. In the UK, £30 million pounds are spent annually on a variety of lotions, shampoos and treatments of which 80% are proven to be ineffective as lice have become immune to the products – a fact many parents are aware of but purchase them anyway, not knowing what else to turn to. This has driven a vicious circle of chemical overuse in the hope that it will work. The Hairforce provides an innovative solution to this community health issue which is 100% effective, safe, natural, honest, supportive and puts children and parents first.
This innovative service recognises the impact nits and head lice have on the community. They cause stress in the home, undermine a child’s confidence, self-esteem and the ability to function at school (they self exclude from activities, deliberately sit at the back of the class and refuse to attract attention); are a cause of bullying in the classroom and playground, and can be a reason to be excluded from school and other activities.
The late Dame Anita Roddick, Founder of the Body Shop, formally a mentor of Dee Wright through The British Library BIPC wrote of The Hairforce: 'The most creative, relevant, and innovative business out there. This is where the future is – services people really need and that really work, rather than yet another product that disappoints and doesn’t deliver. This business is visionary and will transform family life. This is a breakthrough answer.’
Dee Wright, founder of The Hairforce said “This Award is further recognition of what we are doing – giving parents something that actually works and which respects their needs and the needs of their children. Where the products fail our service transform lives. We put excluded children back into school the next day; we stop dead the bullying of many children who after their first clear with us have no visible evidence left of the infestation that was leveraged by others; we bring relief to Mum’s unable to cope any longer with their children’s behaviour and tantrum’s around nits and lice; we provide fundamental support and help for Mums and Grandparents unable to emotionally cope with having them themselves; and we break the cycle of infestation and re-infestation that many find themselves trapped in because they just cannot get on top of it by themselves. We clear many children with major long term infestations whose personalities and behaviour are significantly restored once we clear them – and mothers, teachers and Heads all bear witness to this. This is when innovation is at its best – bringing simple and much needed change to people’s lives.”
The Hairforce service currently operates out of North, Central & West London through
· The Hairforce Lounge in Primrose Hill where children and parents are checked and cleared on an appointment basis 7 days a week
· In-home visits where Lice Assassins will we go to a client’s home to check or clear the entire family
· In-School mobile Nit Nurse service, where teams of Lice Assassins go into schools and check and clear whole classes, school years or the whole school
The Hairforce also operates a powerful employment model bringing women back into the workplace by offering them socially important part time work that is truly flexible.
No hair goes uncombed. No louse gets out alive.
Contact: Dee Wright on The Hairforce Hotline: 07720 838271, dee@thehairforce.co.uk or go to www.thehairforce.co.uk
