Today we are delighted to welcome the Visionary behind Enki Towels Nilofer Aydinli.
Enki Towels are 7 times more absorbent than regular salon towels, are completely sustainable and 100% biodegrade within 8-12 weeks… they are even compostable! They are suppliers to top UK companies in the Hair & Beauty sector… Rejuve Aesthetics, Toni & Guy, SAKS to name a few.
Nilofer Aydinli is the Managing Director of Enki Towels, an eco-friendly disposable hair towel brand based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
After graduating from university, Nilofer joined her family business as a care home operator for the elderly, helping to run and manage the homes. Caring for others was always a passion and a privilege, but around 2002 she felt drawn to another developing interest within the textiles industry - towels.
Over the following 13 years, Nilofer and her team built a successful business supplying a wide range of home textiles to retailers, wholesalers, distributors, care homes, hotels, spas, gyms, hair and beauty salons, promotional companies, and medical and aesthetic clinics.
While supplying conventional cotton towels to the beauty industry, she recognised a clear gap in the market: salons and businesses were seeking more sustainable, hygienic, and cost-effective solutions. This is where the idea for Enki Towels began.
The hair and beauty sector, known for its trend-setting nature, was the obvious starting point. These businesses rely heavily on towels and could benefit enormously from time, cost, and resource savings. Although disposable towels were still in their infancy, Nilofer saw an opportunity to create a product with strong eco credentials that was genuinely fit for the future.
Enki Towels were developed to be sustainable, eco-friendly, 100% compostable, plant-fibre based, cost-effective, practical, and luxurious - an outstanding alternative to traditional cotton towels.
Nilofer was motivated not only by sustainability, but also by the chance to support salon and business owners in reducing overheads and improving efficiency.
With Enki Towels, staff can be redeployed to income-generating activities instead of laundry; utility bills and water usage are reduced; machine maintenance becomes a thing of the past; and businesses can contribute positively to conserving vital natural resources.
Today, Enki Towels proudly celebrates its 10-year anniversary. The brand has expanded into a vast product range that includes towels for salons, spas, clinics, and barbershops in various sizes - from hand and face towels to hair and body towels, couch and bed covers, and even hair-cutting capes.
Having run and sustained a business for more than 20 years in a competitive and mature market, Nilofer’s resilience, commitment, and drive remain at the heart of Enki’s success.
Enki has been trademarked from the start, and receiving the first delivery of towels bearing the Enki name was a defining moment after months of planning and preparation. Although the towels have always been made from 100% plant fibre, the brand has further strengthened its eco credentials by achieving OKI certification - an intensive, rigorously tested, and financially significant accomplishment that underscores Enki’s commitment to the planet and to reducing its users’ carbon footprint.
Now, Nilofer aims to continue her hard work within the Enki brand and take it global - expanding into Europe and beyond, while highlighting the importance of sustainability and its growing significance.
www.enkitowels.com
24 min