Ridding the bathroom of single-use plastics

MATT Kennedy is adamant that his company, Fussy, wasn't named after his own career path but he has been M picky in his choices.

- Lucy Tobin

After studying mechanical engineering at university, the 36-year-old certainly found it hard to settle down. He became a DJ, then a recruiter; he later qualified as a chartered surveyor managing sustainability projects in the City.

From that he made another move, this time into adland, working on campaigns including M&S's Christmas advertisements, while running a side hustle making Japanese sake.

And finally, working on ads for shampoo and shaving brands that created lots of single-use plastics, Kennedy found himself "witnessing first-hand the failure of these brands to address many of the env problems we face". At home, meanwhile, his wife "was struggling to find a natural deodorant that actually worked".

Putting the two problems together, Kennedy started the next trajectory of his career as an entrepreneur, setting up Fussy to make "sustainable, natural products that actually worked".

Success has been swift: the Bethnal Green-based firm has sold £3 million worth of refillable deodorant in its first year. Now, Kennedy says, he's "on a mission to banish single-use plastic from bathrooms worldwide with simple, convenient and effective sustainable personal care products". Sounds like he might settle down in this role for a bit.