Dyke and Dryden - business icons of Windrush generation

Len Dyke and Dudley Dryden inspired the community and gave young people the chance to shine.

THE WINDRUSH gen- eration has often been hailed for its role in helping to rebuild Britain’s economy after the Second World War.

Thousands of men and women came to Britain from the Caribbean to work in sectors such as manufacturing, public transport and the NHS.

Those who migrated to Britain in the 1950s faced huge challenges in the form of discrimination, limited job opportunities, and difficulty finding places to live. In the face of adversity, some Caribbean migrants embraced entrepreneurship in an effort to create a better future for themselves and their communities.

The 1960s saw Windrush generation entrepreneurs establish businesses such as travel agencies, hairdressing salons, takeaways, bakeries and record shops.

However, many struggled to find the financial resources needed to expand their businesses.

Limited access to capital and credit, coupled with a lack of understanding by banks about the potential of enterprises that served Black consumers posed significant challenges.

Among those who successfully overcame these obstacles were Len Dyke and Dudley Dryden.

The two entrepreneurs started out providing a range of products and services, shipped in “from home”, for the emerging Caribbean community in the 1960s. Dyke managed a record distribution company and a travel agency while Dudley sold cosmetics and hair products from a stand in Ridley Road Market in Dalston, London.

In 1965, the two entrepreneurs teamed up and opened a shop on Tottenham’s West Green Road

They were later joined by fel-

By Vic Motune

low entrepreneur Tony Wade in 1968. It was Wade’s decision to cut out the record business and travel service in order to concentrate on promoting hair and beauty products with which the name Dyke & Dryden became synonymous.

As the first Black-owned multimillion-pound firm in Britain, Dyke & Dryden set a high standard for the Black British enterprises that were to follow in their footsteps. Wade told the company’s story in the 2001 book How they made a million: The Dyke and Dryden story

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the company expanded rapidly opening new branches and warehouses that enabled them to compete in the lucrative international Black hair and beauty market.

The three pioneering entrepreneurs were fully aware of the business opportunities that good publicity brought and went on to create the hugely successful Miss Dyke & Dryden beauty contest.

Their promotional flair was again seen in the launch of the Afro Hair and Beauty Show which remains a hugely influential industry event.

While Dyke & Dryden won plaudits for its achievements, business success was only one part of its story. It was a company whose objectives reflected those of Britain’s growing Black minority.

Dyke, Dryden and Wade were equally committed to supporting community organisations that campaigned to tackle the lack of opportunities faced by the Windrush Generation.

They provided trade credit to other Black-owned firms and supported organisations like the Standing Conference of West

Indians, the Association of Jamaicans, and the UK Chamber of Commerce.

At the 2020 unveiling ceremony of a blue plaque celebrating their achievements, Rudi Page, who worked as the company’s sales and marketing manager, described the three entrepreneurs as “very determined men” who were “really important” to Black Britons.

He said: “They inspired the community at the time and they were really focused on the development of young people and giving them opportunities. And I was one of those.”

In the early 1980s, many of those young people were at the sharp end of discriminatory policing particularly through the use of stop and search laws.

In 1981, mounting tensions fuelled riots across the country.

At the time, then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher championed an entrepreneurship drive for poorer areas such as Brixton, Handsworth and Toxteth which saw the worst of the rioting. This presented new opportunities for Black entrepreneurs.

Following the riots, several initiatives were launched by organisations like the former Greater London Council and other local government agencies to address the barriers faced by Black entrepreneurs.

The Economic Development Units of most local authorities with a larger than average black population such as Lambeth, Brent, Haringey, Hackney and

Camden, employed Ethnic Minority Business Officers. They helped identify businesses that could be supported with grants, premises, business training, and advice on competing for contracts.

This sharing of knowledge and resources also saw the rise of Black Business associations and fairs. One of the most significant events during this time was the Caribbean Business Focus 86, hailed as the biggest ever Black business fair in Britain.

Trends

By the early 1990s, Black business associations began to expand beyond London into regions such as Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham.

Ade Saywerr, a management consultant with several years’ experience working on enterprise and community development issues, says that by this period, other important new trends were beginning to emerge.

“In the nineties, the focus shifted from helping Black entrepreneurs to set up in business towards opening up markets. Procurement assistance and networking became crucial in ensuring businesses could secure contracts and tap into government procurement opportunities.”

Sawyerr continues: “The 1990s also saw the emergence of a new type of Black entrepreneur. They benefited from working at senior levels in skill-based jobs and then used that experience and expertise to branch out on their own.

“The new Black business person has expertise in management, can talk finance and knows the intricacies of production and service management and is able to apply all the social marketing and web-based tools available to get quality products or services to a client or customer be they small or large.

“They have sophisticated business models with huge doses of disruptive technologies and in- novation and counterintuitive strategies and with that has come a different more positive can do attitude. They are bolder and younger and ready for the cross over into mainstream markets.”

The efforts of the pioneering Windrush entrepreneurs has laid the foundation for the success that Black business owners enjoy today. According to research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Aston University, businesses run by entrepreneurs from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds have become major players in the UK economy contributing as much as £25 billion to the UK economy.

Access to finance remains a significant barrier. However, recent years have seen the emergence of initiatives that played a crucial role in promoting and supporting Black-owned businesses. One of the most influential is Black Pound Day, launched by So Solid Crew rapper Swiss in the wake of worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd.

For Swiss, economic empowerment through entrepreneurship is a key tool in tackling racial inequality.

Speaking to The Voice ahead of the inaugural Black Pound Day in June 2020 he said:

“When we have control of our economic agenda it means we can effect change politically. This is really important. If we’re a community that’s not in a position of power, we can’t effect change in a way that can have a positive outcome for us.”