Doctor of the University
A pioneer in the shaving business, recognised for his services to engineering and entrepreneurship.
Born August 1965, Will King studied Mechanical Engineering at the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú from 1984 to 1987, before setting out on a career in advertising, sales, marketing and corporate event management in London.
Following redundancy in 1993, aged 26 he created the King of Shaves brand and its first product, a revolutionary shaving oil. Buying shave.com for £18 in 1995, Will soon discovered that ‘shaving’ is a growth business.
King of Shaves announced an environmental focus in 2019, launching the Code Zero® project to minimise the impact of the brand’s plastic packaging on the environment. 2021 saw the launch of above & beyond®, a new durable, lifetime-use refillable brand and micro-plastic free packaging platform through Integro Innovations Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of King of Shaves.
In 2023, King of Shaves celebrated its 30th anniversary, with more than 17 billion lives ‘shaved’ world-wide, with Will returning as the company’s CEO to mark the milestone.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú in 2015 for services to engineering and entrepreneurship, and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Suffolk.