- Work Hard
- 10th Apr 2026
- 0
- 0 minute
Meet the Whitley Bay entrepreneur making waves with her beauty brand launching in Boots
Merwave is a North East brand and I'll always be proud of that.
- Abi Reid
Meet the Whitley Bay woman who went from making her own hair products in her garage to running a successful beauty brand from the North East, including being stocked in Boots stores nationally.
Abi Reid founded haircare brand Merwave alongside her husband Tom. Abi spotted a gap in the market for products dedicated to wavy hair, with most options aimed at curly or straight hair types.
Alongside raising a young family, Abi, who worked in marketing, began formulating her own lightweight products during Covid lockdowns, initially running Merwave from her garage. Now stocked in Boots, her lockdown project has taken off in a big way.
We hear why believing in your business is key to success, who inspires Abi, and why leaving the North East has never been an option.
SO, HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?
“I am a Geordie through and through. I’m from Whitley Bay. I met Tom at Northumbria Uni, and we run everything together. London has never really been an option for me; I didn’t ever want to go to London. But I do feel there are so many opportunities there. For example, all the big head offices are down there.
Merwave is a North East brand and I’ll always be proud of that.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE NORTH EAST TO THE BRAND?
“Our first photo shoots were on Seaton Sluice Beach, trying to make it look like it was summer, and that we definitely weren’t freezing. I grew up on the beach and the brand started from me, and that’s the vibe that we have.”
WHAT’S THE PAST YEAR BEEN LIKE FOR MERWAVE?
“The last year has been a big year for Merwave. We were doing the rebrand, we’ve built our team a bit more and the products are now in Boots.
We used to go into Boots stores, and still do, to look at the shelves. We found a buyer’s email address and wrote saying, ‘you don’t have products for wavy hair’ and sent a picture of their own shelves. They got back in touch with us within 24 hours, and then we had a meeting. When we’ve told people since, they’ve said that’s unheard of.”
WHO INSPIRES YOU IN BUSINESS?
“Nicola Elliott, the owner of Neom, is absolutely incredible. What she’s done is amazing. I’ve spoken to her a couple of times and she’s been incredibly supportive.
Often you go to these networking things and there’s a recruiter or someone with a tech business, but it’s so different to your business. Our problems are not the same as their problems. Our success is different to theirs. Sara Davies is obviously an inspiring North East businesswoman too.”
HOW INVOLVED ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS IN SHAPING THE PRODUCTS?
“The products truly were developed with our customers. At the beginning, COVID meant I was developing the products, but we have a Merwave members group on Facebook. The conversations on there about wavy hair are amazing, it’s just a happy place to be.
We sent our refresh spray to the most active speakers in the group and got their feedback. I feel that if we just stopped, and everything went horribly wrong, people would miss our products.”
WHY KEEP THE PRODUCT RANGE SMALL?
“We intentionally have a small range. We’ve always been very aware to keep the motto of why we started and not deviate away from that. There were so many products out there and I just wanted a really simple system.
Many companies would just go for money grabs, release product after product after product.”
WHAT’S NEXT, AND WILL YOU EVER LEAVE THE NORTH EAST?
“I want to keep the company in the North East. Ben Francis (GymShark founder) has done that for Birmingham, he’s kept his company there.
Our team is remote because it’s easier to find the right people and everyone can work from home, but we do try and meet up. I love Gregg’s, and I’m not going to ever live anywhere where there’s not a Gregg’s within a 25-metre radius. I just think what they do is super cool, the marketing’s amazing and they’re the best Geordie company in the world.”
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
“We’re looking at European expansion, but we haven’t fully conquered the UK yet. So we don’t want to be too ambitious and try to run before we can walk.
But there’s just so many wavy-haired women out there, and I just want to help everyone realise their waves!”
Jo Dunbar
A journalist with over 15 years experience; ranging from online outlets to national newspapers via glossy magazines. Jo started her career on the Features team of a supplement at a national Sunday paper; from there she became a celebrity writer then celebrity editor and moved into women’s magazine with roles at…
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