Jennifer Sieg meets Scott Davies, founder of British honey brand Hilltop Honey, to discuss the road to international expansion
International expansion is a dream come true for many entrepreneurs who want to tap into new market opportunities and subsequently reach a wider customer base.
But to do so successfully takes some tenacity, and the recipe for that success is far from an easy one-size-fits-all approach.
At least, it has yet to be an all-too-smooth sailing one for entrepreneur Scott Davies, who’s still figuring out how to find his brand’s niche in a rather large and ever-changing market such as the US.
Davies founded his Wales-based honey production company, Hilltop Honey, in 2011 to change how the nation’s consumers perceived honey as a product and beekeeping as a craft.
The brand has since become the UK’s second-largest honey producer by volume. This year, it reached a total of £44m in sales and is forecast to hit £50m by 2025.
Using the evolution of Hilltop Honey’s brand strategy – one that’s managed to keep in line with the times and trends over the last decade and a half – to his advantage, Davies now seems confident a global presence is possible.
In August, the brand announced it has begun to consider international expansion, with the help of a £10m banking package from Santander UK.
The banking package includes stock finance, FX facilities, invoice finance, and term loan refinancing and is designed to help the firm accelerate its global growth.
The push requires much more than money, however. Davies says it’s all about positioning your brand the right way, with the right audience, in whatever market you choose.
Brand evolution
Davies began to lay the groundwork for the Hilltop Honey brand when, at 21, he lost his job in the trade industry.
He had spent years as a bricklayer before the 2008 housing market crash. When he suffered a back injury at his next job, he had to quickly figure out how to make some extra cash.
“My whole objective was to create myself a job,” Davies says.
He recalls thinking: “What the hell am I going to do… because no one’s going to accept me at an office job.
What the hell am I going to do… because no one’s going to accept me at an office job.
“That said, I tried to get an office job [and] confirmed my fears. No one was going to try and employ a bricklayer with no GSCEs with no office [experience].”
Looking back, the entrepreneur says there have been many pivotal moments that have shaped the future of his business.
Just days before Davies landed Holland & Barrett as a game-changing stockist for Hilltop Honey products, his friends and family were advising him to choose a different profession.
“You’re never going to sell that much honey,” he remembers hearing.
Fortunately, he pushed through the hesitancy and was rather pleased with the returns.
“We landed in Holland & Barrett that year and we went from £234,000 to £684,000 in a year – that’s when the wheel started to turn,” Davies says.
Going global
The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union after the Brexit referendum was a pivotal moment for UK businesses – one that’s made the vision for global reach more difficult.
Nonetheless, international trade has become increasingly important for many British businesses, despite the financial barriers and regulatory hurdles that can often come with the expansion.
Davies, who’s journey overseas has nearly just begun, says if there’s anything he’s learning so far, it’s “whatever you think it’s going to cost you, times it by 10.”
For him, it’s about finding a market opportunity that could be a good fit for his product, while also finding new and innovative ways to tailor the product and brand to the diverse audiences within.
So far, that strategy has seemed to work out in his favour.
“I think it comes down to my tenacity around reinvesting in the brand and the business, and not wanting to drive around in a Lamborghini, and really focusing on the core, fundamental purpose of why we exist and how we’re going to succeed,” Davies adds.
Keeping with your plan
Regardless of Hilltop Honey’s growth, Davies is confident that his mission has always been the same. And as a leader, too.
“I believe people have a real big habit of making business complicated and generally about their own roles as well,” Davies says.
“I’ve got a one page plan that everybody knows about and it’s just got five fundamental factors we’ve got to achieve and if you achieve those five fundamental factors, we’re going to be alright.”
CV
Name: Scott Davies
Company: Hilltop
Founded: 2011
Staff: 123
Title: Founder & Managing Director of Hilltop
Age: 35
Born: Newtown, Powys, Wales
Lives: Newtown, Powys, Wales
Studied: Newtown High School and Coleg Powys
Talents: Clay Pigeon shooting, shot for Wales
Motto: Dream big, fail fast, win faster
Most known for: Selling honey
First ambition: To start a Subway franchise when I was 16, before that it was to become an
Apache helicopter pilot but my grades were nowhere near what was required!
Favourite book: Elon Musk or Richard Branson’s autobiography
Best piece of advice: Stay focused on the big picture, adapt to the journey, speak to people
that have done it!