Graham Pollard is Insight Professional UK's Sustainability Manager — and one of Britain's most committed advocates for greener hairdressing. In 2025 and 2026 he won Best Sustainable Salon at The Hair Awards, capping a career that has run from Liverpool to London across more than four decades.
Atelier29:sustainable luxury in Putney
Graham founded Atelier29 in 2000, on the ground floor of his Putney home, after two decades already spent in the industry. It is an intimate, homely salon with a vintage aesthetic — sustainable luxury, as he describes it — where he works one-to-one, taking a single client at a time. Over the years he has built a loyal, longstanding clientele, including television personalities and clients from the cultural and creative industries, many of whom come to him specifically for his sustainable approach.
An environmental advocate first
Graham's commitment runs deeper than his salon. He has been a member of Greenpeace since 1978 — long before sustainability had anything to do with hairdressing — and that conviction now shapes every part of his business. Atelier29 runs on solar panelling, water-saving shower heads and eco-friendly hair purifiers, and Graham colours and styles with vegan, environmentally responsible products, including Insight Professional's vegan, cruelty-free, Italian-made ranges.
An early adopter of organic colour
Graham was working with organic and natural hair products long before they were mainstream — expertise that led to him becoming a professional haircare educator in the UK. His experience with organic and vegan products has also taken him to the catwalk, through session and international art-team work at the first International Hairdressing Awards in Madrid and the Alternative Hair Show in London, working with the Beauty Underground.
Helping the whole industry go greener
Graham is a vocal champion of sustainable hairdressing. He created the Sustainable Salon Inspector, a scheme to help other salons find cost-effective, practical ways to reduce their environmental impact — because, as he argues, going green can make a salon more profitable, not less. He also works with the My New Hair charity, supporting people experiencing hair loss through cancer treatment.
A recognised voice in the media
Graham speaks regularly about the case for sustainable hairdressing and has been interviewed by BBC Radio London and Tribute Magazine. He is currently Sustainability Ambassador for The Hair Magazine, and in 2021 he judged The Big One awards at ColorWorld in London. You can read his own guide to the subject, Your Sustainable Salon Starts with You, in The Hair Magazine.
Four decades of craft
Graham's career began in the late 1970s and has taken him from big salons to freelance work, from Liverpool to London. Along the way he trained and worked with well-known groups including Alan Paul, Jefferson Taylor and Minskys, and alongside industry names such as John Paul Holt and Patrick Cameron — the classic grounding that still underpins his craft today.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Graham Pollard? Graham is Insight Professional UK's Sustainability Manager and the founder of Atelier29 in Putney, London. A hairdresser of more than 20 years, he won Best Sustainable Salon at The Hair Awards in both 2025 and 2026.
What is Atelier29? Atelier29 is Graham's one-to-one, eco-conscious salon, founded in 2000 on the ground floor of his Putney home, run on solar power and water-saving technology and using vegan, environmentally responsible products.
What is the Sustainable Salon Inspector? It is a scheme Graham created to help other salons find simple, affordable ways to become more sustainable — and often more profitable in the process.
Explore Insight Professional UK to learn more about vegan, sustainable professional haircare.