Retirement made Steve itch to do some ink else

A health food shop owner who retired early ‘fell into’ another business – now he wants to move it to Weymouth, creating four jobs.

Steve Whiting, now 66, has been so enthused by his new products, which take the itching, ink stains and infection risk out of tattoos, he actually went and got his first tattoos (Bob Dylan and George Best, since you ask).

Steve says when his son got a tattoo years ago he gave him a roasting, telling him he’d never get a decent job. “He’s a CEO now,” he said.

Midlander Steve and his wife moved to Weymouth a few years back, pulled by the lure of the seaside having retired aged just 52.

Out on a boat with a friend who had just had a major inking done – a full sleeve –he had a flash of inspiration.

Steve said: “A good friend of ours, a keen body builder and a collector of tattoos, came to stay for the weekend. We went fishing off Portland Bill, my friend having just spent £600 on having a full sleeve tattoo and was applying a cream to the area frequently. I asked what it was and he said it was aftercare to aid its healing.

“Whilst he stayed with us my wife moaned at him as the ink from the tattoo stained the bedlinen. Never having had a tattoo I asked him about the healing procedure. He said the gooey aftercare helped heal but the downside was the tattoo stuck to clothing and stained bed linen. But the worst was the terrible itching as the tattoo healed. He was a builder, so he booked 10 days off work as he didn’t want to get any dirt on it.”

While visiting family in the

Midlands

Steve met his friend for dinner. An ambassador to The Royal Society of Chemists, he formulates for leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Steve said: “I mentioned my friend’s issues with tattoo healing and he said I will formulate a product for you. I didn’t think anything of it, but a few months later he posted me a few unlabelled samples and said try them. This was a dry, breathable antibacterial coating for tattoos, so no sticking to clothing There’s no itch and no infection. I sent the samples to five people to trial and the feedback was 100% positive. I needed a challenge and believed in the product.” Now the tattoo aftercare product is stocked by all leading UK wholesalers and is the only UK tattoo aftercare stocked by US wholesalers. Last year Steve’s company The Cambridge Clinic was voted The UKs most innovative tattoo and microblading aftercare company, and now offers products for microblading, laser treatment and scalp micropigmentation, too. Steve said: “We are now looking to relocate production and distribution to Weymouth in the next 12 months, in a small industrial unit. Well, I say to retire is to expire…” Go to thecambridgeclinic.co.uk or search for Fade the Itch, Fade the Heat or SPMU Dry Heal Serum on eBay/Amazon. Also sold at Red Wasp in King Street, Weymouth.