HairTracker

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A challenge identified during a 30-year career in hairdressing has become the foundation of an ambitious Fife technology business.

Leven-based HairTracker replaces traditional paper client cards with a digital platform that allows hairstylists to record colour formulas, cuts, treatments, photographs and service histories. Because records are owned by the individual stylist rather than tied to a salon, the app is particularly valuable to self-employed hairdressers, freelancers and those working across different locations.

For founders Tracey Aitken and David Carboni, HairTracker is about more than record keeping. The relationship between a stylist and client is built on trust, personal knowledge and continuity. By keeping an accurate digital history, stylists can protect that relationship wherever they work.

Tracey brings 30 years of industry experience, while David brings a background in software and digital transformation. Together, they have created a platform shaped around the practical needs of hairstylists. HairTracker’s progress has already gained national recognition. The company won the Rising Star Award at the Scotland final of the UK StartUp Awards, an achievement Tracey and David regard as their biggest milestone to date. Tracey was also named Career Changer of the Year at the Scotland Women in Technology Awards 2025, recognising her move from a 30-year career in hairdressing into the technology sector. The founders are now looking forward to the UK StartUp Awards national final at Ideas Fest later this year.

Approach

HairTracker was created in response to the hairdressing industry’s continued reliance on handwritten client cards. These records can be lost, damaged or left behind when a stylist changes salon, making it difficult to retain important information about a client’s colour formulas, treatment history and preferences.

For Tracey and David, this information is central to the trust between a hairstylist and their client. HairTracker gives stylists a secure digital record that moves with them, helping them maintain continuity and deliver a personal service wherever they work. Developed from the perspective of a working stylist, the platform is visual, straightforward and intentionally dyslexia friendly.

Support from Business Gateway Fife helped the founders bring the app to market quickly. A start-up grant, research and development funding, workshops and training gave them the practical and commercial support needed to develop the product and establish the business. HairTracker has also received funding from Scottish EDGE and Innovate UK.

As the company began exploring wider markets, InvestFife’s Trade Development Programme helped Tracey and David prepare for exhibitions and international trade. Support included a contribution towards their stand at Salon International and specialist training on how to sell effectively at trade shows.

The programme later supported HairTracker to attend CosmoProf Miami and Premiere Show LA. During the visit, the founders introduced the platform to international stylists, educators and industry professionals and were invited to demonstrate it to education providers within the US hair and beauty sector. The experience highlighted the potential for HairTracker in international markets and helped shape the company’s growing focus on education. Following the visit, the business reported an immediate uplift in growth of around 50 per cent.

HairTracker has also established an international Facebook community, allowing the founders to support stylists around the world while gathering feedback to inform the platform’s continued development.

Having accessed business support elsewhere in Scotland, Tracey and David said the range and accessibility of support available in Fife had stood out. The ability to access funding, training and trade development assistance through a connected local network has helped HairTracker progress from an initial idea to a recognised and internationally focused business.

Tracey Aitken and David Carboni, co-founders of HairTracker, said:

"The relationship between a hairstylist and their client is built on trust. HairTracker helps stylists protect the knowledge behind that relationship and continue delivering a personal service wherever they work."

"The support available in Fife has been exceptional. Through Business Gateway Fife and InvestFife, we have accessed funding, training and trade development support that helped us bring the app to market, build our skills and introduce HairTracker to audiences in the UK and United States. "

"What has stood out for us is how easy it has been to find the right support when we have needed it. There has always been someone willing to listen, understand where we want to take the business and help us identify the next opportunity. That has made Fife a very positive place for us to develop HairTracker."

Next Steps

Education is now at the centre of HairTracker’s next stage of development.
The company has been developing HairTracker Education and is preparing a pilot programme with hairdressing colleges, building on the interest and feedback generated through its work in the UK and the United States.

The platform will allow students to document practical client work, store colour formulas and photographs, and build a digital record of their development. By working directly with colleges and other education providers across the hair and beauty sector, Tracey and David hope to refine the platform and explore how digital record keeping could complement existing teaching and better prepare students for the workplace.

The founders also see an important link between good record keeping and the trusted relationship between a stylist and their client. Introducing these practices during training could help future stylists understand the value of retaining accurate information about previous services, preferences and treatments from the beginning of their careers.

This ambition has particular significance for Tracey, a former Fife College student who is passionate about helping the next generation of hairstylists access modern digital tools. HairTracker is also involved in early discussions at Scottish Government level about the possible future role of digital record keeping within hairdressing education. While no formal decisions have been made, the founders are keen to continue those conversations and explore how technology could support the future development of industry training.

Alongside HairTracker Education, the company will continue developing its professional app, exploring international opportunities and considering a future version designed specifically for salons.