Post by Audie F. Cummings, PhD, MBA, AIIB

BLACK BUSINESS CASE STUDIES™ | Case Study No. 1 Dyke & Dryden, SoftSheen & The Birth of the Battle of the Barbers How One Competition Helped Shape a Lifetime of Leadership The Global Business Bishop Show™ In the late 1980s, Dyke & Dryden emerged as one of the UK's pioneering Black-owned business success stories, becoming recognised as the first Black-owned company in Britain to achieve a £1 million turnover. Their collaboration with SoftSheen, led by President Edward Gardner, helped elevate professional standards within the Afro hair industry through education, product innovation and national competitions. Among the most influential initiatives was the Battle of the Barbers—a national barbering competition held at the Afro Hair & Beauty Exhibition, then Europe's largest Black consumer exhibition, attracting more than 10,000 visitors. At just 18 years old, Audie Florizal Cummings entered the competition and became its first-ever champion, receiving the inaugural award from Edward Gardner. That defining moment became the catalyst for a career dedicated to excellence, education, entrepreneurship and community transformation. The victory inspired the founding of APHS (Audie's Professional Hair Studios) on 3 June 1990, which evolved into an award-winning consultancy, (HIS) CUMMINGS GROUP OF ASSOCIATES, and later inspired SSST™ – Stop Stabbing Start Trimming™, a movement using barbering, mentoring, education and enterprise to help build safer communities. Business Lessons ✔ Excellence creates opportunity. ✔ Competitions can launch careers. ✔ Mentorship multiplies success. ✔ Winning is a habit built through preparation, discipline and perseverance. ✔ True success is measured not only by awards, but by the lives transformed thereafter. «"One competition. One award. One decision to pursue excellence. The impact continues across generations."» Suggested Bibliography - Black Hair & Beauty Magazine (competition and industry coverage) - Root Magazine (industry features) - The Voice newspaper (Black British business and community reporting) - Afro Hair & Beauty Exhibition archives - SoftSheen professional education materials - APHS historical records - (HIS) CUMMINGS GROUP OF ASSOCIATES archive Author: Prof. Dr. Audie Florizal Cummings PhD DD DTh MDiv MBA AIIB Managing Partner (HIS) CUMMINGS GROUP OF ASSOCIATES LTD © 2026 BLACK BUSINESS CASE STUDIES™ Owned by (HIS) CUMMINGS GROUP OF ASSOCIATES LTD. All Rights Reserved.

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