Dyke and Dryden

Britain’s first multi-million-pound Black-owned business got its start in 1965 when two men from Jamaica – Len Dyke and Dudley Dryden – set up shop in Tottenham, selling imported records and hair products to the growing Caribbean community. A few years later, they were joined by Tony Wade and expanded their hair-product business. Dyke & Dryden distributed American products and eventually produced its own range, becoming the first company in Europe to manufacture Black hair products.

All images: Rudi Page Archive

The company overcame racism – even after they had a million-pound turnover, they couldn’t get a draft at the bank for £5,000 because they were seen as a “high-risk” business – and fierce competition from American companies to establish itself as the leading Black-owned hair enterprise in Britain. Dyke & Dryden also launched the annual Afro Hair and Beauty Expo in 1983 that brought together the best in Black hair, style and music.

Dyke & Dryden was sold to an American competitor in the 1990s, but its legacy can be seen in the many Black-owned salons, barbershops and enterprises that it paved the way for.

Listen to an interview with Rudi Page, sales and marketing manager for Dyke & Dryden in the early 1980s.