Scott Davies, founder of Hill Top Honey, talks about the importance of bootstrapping and

Scott Davies, the founder of Hill Top Honey has built an incredible business with the combination of tenacity and a £5,000 bank loan. He was a bricklayer who hurt his back and decided to change tact and set up a honey business. He came on the Food Talk Show with Ollie Lloyd and Susie Warran-Smith many years ago, but alot has happened in the last 8 years. Hill Top Honey, based in Newtown Wales, now turns over £43 million and has more than 130 employees.

He had to be patient at the beginning, paying himself tiny amounts, exhibiting at trade shows to get close to his consumers and ultimately living within his means. He got a local Welsh packaging agency to create his early designs for £500 and admits that he didn’t even know what a brief was when he first started.  He has taken a radical approach for a challenger brand where he has decided to be cheaper than the market leader and fundamentally better, on taste and method of production.

Scott thinks too many brands splash the cash and waste money on getting people to buy their products once. He thinks he hasn’t made a sale unless someone buys his brand twice. He is a committed employer and only recently got his B-Corp status to allow him to talk more meaningfully about their approach to business. As he says, it matters to him that his team can afford to live well, and in a small town, everyone knows how you run your business. 

The business recently did a big packaging refresh with Big Fish. He has waited this long because it is only now that he thinks the business is ready, as it knows where it is going and has the funds to do this. As the saying goes, it is often the tortoise that wins the race.

Edited by Stella Gent