“Quite Frankly, The Manufacturers Have Abandoned This Industry”

Why Boots Was A Step Too Far For Keune Boss Darren Potter

by CATHERINE | DOCUMENTS

Should pro hair brands cut out the hair pro and sell direct to the consumer? Darren Potter doesn’t think so. Since becoming UK general manager of the Dutch family-owned Keune business three years ago, he’s taken a stance, refusing to put their products into Boots or online beauty shops and declaring that “loyalty to the hair pro is at the heart of everything we do.” And guess what: people are listening…

It would be fair to say the word ‘professional’ matters a lot to Darren Potter. He has spent more than 30 years helping professional hair brands understand how to serve and support professional hairdressers and in 2017 resigned from the role of UK general manager at Aveda when parent company Estee Lauder declared they wanted to take it omni-channel. (“I turned round and said, ‘Well, I’m not going to be the leader that does that’.”)  Potter set up his own agency, Refocus, and spent four years working solo, consulting with distributors and helping brands get back on track after the pandemic. By 2021 one of those brands was Keune.

“I knew of Keune but in my mindset at the time it was a low-end market brand run by wholesalers or distributors,” recalls Potter. “But I had a call with Mr Keune and his son Eelco (who was appointed President on January 1 this year, joining his father George on the Supervisory Board) and I got on really well with them, went over to the Netherlands to look at their operation and did a presentation on why I thought they should be in the UK market. I got as far as slide five when they said, ‘We want you to start’.”

Reassured this was a brand committed to the hair pro for the longterm, Potter threw himself into the role. For the next three years, he worked tirelessly, securing warehouses and offices, creating a flagship salon and training academy, The House of Keune, in central London, signing Andrew Barton and Luke Benson as brand ambassadors and garnering increasing column inches from a fascinated trade press.

It paid off. By the start of 2025, the Keune empire stood at 485 salons in the UK, including Potter’s most prestigious signing of 2024, the six-strong Trevor Sorbie group.

“Whatever we do, whatever we put into the market, we ask ourselves if this is benefiting the hairdresser; it’s got to meet that test. And it’s working. It’s resonating.”

There’s a lot about Keune that ticks modern hairdressing boxes: there’s a collaborative, innovative feel to the brand, the products are high quality and sustainability is a priority. But the key difference that not only sets it apart from its competitors but makes it especially attractive to hairdressers who’ve felt increasingly disillusioned in recent years, is that it’s a family business and it treats its customers like family too. At a time when other brands are cutting back on people and doing everything online, Potter is growing his team and investing in networking events that bring his customers together IRL. “Whatever we do, whatever we put into the market, we ask ourselves if this is benefiting the hairdresser; it’s got to meet that test,” says Potter. “And it’s working. It’s resonating.”

The house that Potter built: the impressive House of Keune in central London acts as a brand focal point

Keune’s commitment to the hair professional is powerful and persuasive, but there is no doubt it was strengthened significantly when in 2023 a handful of major industry bands opted to make their professional products available in high street retailer Boots. Potter was on holiday in France when the news hit but immediately put out an announcement that Keune was 100 per cent loyal to the professional hairdresser, now and forever.

“We just blasted social media with that message, and we got so much positive feedback because it was literally the day after the Boots story broke and people were really angry. And I don’t blame them – all pretence that these brands are committed to the professional was blown out of the water. It’s meant that I’m now speaking to influential people across our industry that I would never have been able to talk to before, because they see that what we’re doing and what we’re offering has integrity and is supporting them to grow their business.”

“These manufacturers have left professional hairdressers high and dry by blatantly going direct to the consumer.”

Although his competitors’ actions have benefitted him, Potter is bitter about the impact on the wider industry. “It really annoys me,” he says. “These manufacturers have left professional hairdressers high and dry by blatantly going direct to the consumer. They don’t care if that means they lose some business along the way – they’ll have built that into their calculations – but by prioritising their shareholders over their supposed brand values, they are causing major problems for our industry at a time when a cost of living crisis and Government legislation are already putting extra pressure onto the P&L of salon business. It’s unforgivable.”

Committed to the pro: Keune have promised their products will never be found in Boots or online beauty shops

Realistic that Keune’s professional-first stance puts it at a commercial disadvantage versus many of its rivals, Potter is nevertheless committed to growing retail sales in the professional channel. He’s created an ambassador programme that rewards salon loyalty and spend (there are separate programmes for session stylists and freelancers); the Keune online shop is set up so that salons always earn their margins, even if the consumer is buying direct; and Potter has even set up the business-focused Keune University that his team are obliged to attend three times a year so they can pass on the latest insight and knowledge to Keune customers.

“What we’ve got to get better at in our industry is helping our customers to understand how retail can happen because hairdressers just switch off to it, thinking they can’t compete with online,” he says. “One of the most important things in a retail environment is getting the client in the seat because 97 per cent of the time that results in a purchase. Salons get consumers in the seat immediately but what they’re not good at is doing a really bespoke consultation with a prescriptive recommendation. We need to go back to the basics, which are that the hairdresser is the professional, with the right and the authority to tell the client what they must use and how to use it.”

There’s no doubt Potter is fired up about the future, and given how industry disillusionment has led to many salons looking around for new partner brands, 2025 is going to be a huge year for Keune. “I was with a very influential hairdresser the other day and he was saying to me, ‘There’s no other brands doing what you’re doing, but I think you need to dial up how you communicate that into the industry, and don’t be afraid of upsetting the competition because they’ve already stuck their two fingers up to us.’ And I totally get that. I do want people to look at Keune and think, ‘That’s the brand I want to work with.’  But the most important thing to me is that if you’re unhappy with what your brand is doing, don’t just moan and groan – walk away. There are so many companies that will support you and help you grow, You’ve just got to pick the right one.”

How to succeed at retail, according to Darren Potter

Don’t just put products on your shelves and hope they sell. Plan seriously.

Decide what percentage of your turnover you want retail to be and reverse engineer back from there. The two key benchmarks I talk to salons about are these: for every 10 clients that come into your salon, I want five of them converting to colour and I want five buying professional haircare. Key to both those things is getting the consultation right because clients who spend on colour will always spend money on products that will protect that colour. Plus, you’ll get more rebookings!