It's a case of local boy done good as Tom Allsworth is unknowingly embraced every day by millions of women who wash that colour right out of their hair.

The entrepreneur who works just minutes from where he was born in Queenborough 45 years ago founded the multi-million pound venture Medichem International in his 20s.

Now it is worth more than £10m a year, not forgetting the substantial sum he raised from selling a major part of it in 2009, and the income from a property empire spanning 50 properties across Sheppey.

Medichem made its name from chemical products, mainly disinfectants, cleaning agents and animal welfare.

It has kept up a manufacturing tradition on Sheppey while many others have fallen by the wayside amid stiff Far East competition.

Allsworth had found the elixir of business success, make a product that's washed down the drain and bought again and again.

He was never a chemist but tapped into good advice from a specialist. "What can you mix in a big vat, put in a bottle and sell to people who will use it and buy more of it?" he says.

But he never wanted a cleaning company. "Added value was important rather than just volume. We never sell on price, always on quality."

After 17 years, Allsworth tired of some of his chemical products and accepted an offer too good to refuse. But he retained manufacturing for a while to keep his workforce, now around 50, fully employed. "The business needed to refresh itself," he says.

There was no Plan B. How would he replace the £5 million of lost sales? The answer was ColourB4.

Consumer feedback told him that many hair colourants did not work.

Products that restored hair to the original colour were confined to salons.

So Allsworth and his team worked on a formulation that would fill the gap. They came up with ColourB4 - the name was invented at the Rushenden Road plant - a sales sensation, with TV and other advertising making it a big seller in well-know stores chains.

Allsworth says that regular use of hair dye causes a buildup in the hair that should be cleaned regularly. By promoting this idea, he has turned a "disaster" product, bought only when something goes wrong, into a "maintenance" line.

"what can you mix in a big vat, put in a bottle and sell to people who will use it and buy more of it..?” – entrepreneur tom allsworth

Turnover has returned to £10m. "When the whole world has been worried about the economic downturn, we've completely replaced the £5m of business we sold. It's rejuvenated my excitement in the business."

Entrepreneurs need constantly to innovate, He cites his hero Sir Richard Branson, who has changed his business many times.

ColourB4 is now sold across Europe, South Africa and Australia, and Allsworth is poised to land a US deal.

A sleek Bentley with a personalised number plate in the company car park is an outward show of Allsworth's success.

His first marriage ended a while ago, he has three children from that, and now lives with his partner of 15 years and seven-year-old son.

But he is all too aware that business success can change. His property portfolio was developed as an insurance against possible business failure elsewhere.

He earned a sharp lesson from his parents when he was in his teens and saw their business run into difficulties.

He loves Medichem, 20 years old in 2012, and has no plans to sell up.