I never set out to start a skincare company. When I moved from South Africa to the UK, the change in climate was hard on my son Troy's skin. It became dry and uncomfortable, and nothing we tried seemed to give him the comfort I was looking for.

So I went back to the natural remedies I had grown up around. I learned more about propolis, honey and beeswax, then began making small batches with care for Troy at home. Friends and family tried them too — and they kept telling me the same thing: “You need to sell this.”

That is how Ultra Bee began. What started as one mother's answer for her son grew around our kitchen table and, eventually, into a family business in the New Forest, Dorset. More than 14 years later, Troy and I still lead Ultra Bee together, with our wider family beside us and the reason we started at the heart of every formula.