蜜芽传媒

Our Gap Finder today is Dr Andrew Birnie, a consultant dermatologist and skin cancer surgeon who's founded the sun cream brand Altruist.

Andrew is an NHS doctor and has seen a rising number of patients who need surgery for skin cancer. He found that people were being put off from wearing sunscreen regularly because of the high cost of a good quality cream, but they also disliked how greasy cheaper formulas made their skin.

While working training surgeons in South Africa, he befriended David Westerbeek van Eerten, a Dutch economist who worked in the skincare industry. Andrew and David were discussing the barriers to people wearing sunscreen regularly, despite rising cases of skin cancer, and David told Andrew there was a high margin on suncare products which means high quality products are pretty expensive. Andrew and David wondered if they could make a high quality sun cream brand, that people enjoyed wearing, that could undercut their rivals on price.

Because of their connections in the skincare industry the partners were able to make the Altruist line - first selling it through Amazon. By word of mouth news and recommendations about the brand spread, and the company is now stocked in a range of retailers including Tesco.

Winifred talks to Dr Birnie about founding the brand, but also about why there are increasing cases of skin cancers in the UK, and tips to protect yourself when you're in the sun.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS