Glass interviews British entrepreneur and activist Anabel Kindersley who, as well as celebrating the 20th anniversary of her leadership of Neal’s Yard Remedies, has also scored a major victory in her campaign to save Britain’s bees
“We’re a brand with heritage, but our time is definitely now, which is exciting,” co-owner and CEO of British beauty and wellbeing brand Neal’s Yard Remedies, Anabel Kindersley, tells me. The warm and dynamic businesswoman was an author and homeopath before her family took over the company in 2005. “Our family are huge advocates of organic farming and environmentalism,” she continues. “Also, I have always been obsessed with natural health. I was a trained homeopath. So, it is a great fit.”
Now, with 20 UK stores, over 500 global stockists Neal’s Yard Remedies is available in 17 countries having over 370 international stores and stockists internationally – including 26 stores in Japan – their second largest market after the UK, Neal’s Yard Remedies is getting long and well-deserved recognition for all it has achieved since its foundation in 1981 by Romy Fraser.
Anabel Kindersley of Neal’s Yard Remedies
In 2016, Neal’s Yard Remedies was instrumental in the campaign to ban environmentally hazardous micro beads. The brand has recently won recognition for setting “a gold standard for conscious consumerism”, while the #StandByBees campaign Kindersley founded to protect bees is now supported by a coalition of 105 other British businesses and NGOs.
In January, it achieved a major breakthrough when the UK government rejected an application for the use of the previously banned neonicotinoid Cruiser SB, a highly toxic pesticide that kills bees.
This year is a big year for you as it is the 20th anniversary of your family’s ownership of Neal’s Yard Remedies and you’ve just had this amazing success with #StandByBees.
This win with the government is incredible. I broke down in tears when I got the news. Through the business, we’ve been campaigning for the protection of bees since 2011 and the banning of neonicotinoids since 2017. It was only after Covid-19 that I realised that there had been derogations in the ban [a derogation is an emergency authorisation of something which had been outlawed] and the government was allowing it to happen under the radar.
You have to stand up for your principles – I just found it extraordinary that our government would allow something that was so toxic to happen like it didn’t matter. We have been furiously campaigning for the last three years to reinstate the ban. Through this, we were name-checked twice in Parliament. The last time they said “I want to thank Anabel Kindersley of Neal’s Yard Remedies for her tireless campaigning on this matter. No debate could happen without her continued pressure on MPs and her encouragement of us to keep pushing further and further.”
We all have a voice. We all have the power to persist. When I went to that last parliamentary debate, I thought nothing was going to really happen. And then we were name-checked. It’s hard work running a business and campaigning. It takes a lot of time and energy, but it gave me the resolve to continue. And actually, good does prevail, which is encouraging for all of us.
And what other plans do you have to celebrate the anniversary and also into the future?
We’ve got some very exciting plans for a launch around this anniversary to be announced soon. As well as the 20 years of our family’s ownership of the company, we’ll be celebrating British manufacturing. I think the big question is, why would a business our size, not very large, make everything ourselves? It’s because I know exactly what happens in every step of the supply chain. For example, I am going to Oman to see our frankincense suppliers in a couple of weeks.
It’s that connection with the people who actually grow the ingredients. We grow a lot of the calendula and other ingredients around our eco-factory Peacemarsh, Dorset where we make them into infusions, which form the basis of many of our products. But, as well as this, we really care about the precautionary principle – if in doubt, leave it out.
That’s what’s enabled us to have this great privilege of being trusted by our customers. The customer is not going to suddenly find out that a cream I’ve given them is going to end up containing an endocrine disruptor.
Neal’s Yard Remedies eco-factory at Peasmarsh, Dorset
You are also involved in a range of campaigns such as Earthed and Grow to Know. How do you manage to combine campaigning with running a successful British business?
It’s my life blood. It’s the reason we are here. It’s not just as simple as selling a pot of cream – it’s the whole picture. When we say we care about people and the planet it’s not strapline or a soundbite, it’s really true.
I am obsessed with the the power of the medicines that we derive from plants, the power of aromatherapy – that you have very potent plants that can trigger the olfactory bulb to connect with the limbic area of the brain to evoke feelings and emotions, and also healing.
Neal’s Yards Remedies were the first CarbonNeutral® retailer on the high street. People say to me, “Who cares about carbonneutral, you are trying to sell beauty products?”
However, for us, our true motivation is about health and wellbeing, and not just for people but the whole ecosystem. Therefore, I do find enough time because it’s important to build awareness of these things. Sustainability and carbon neutral are suddenly now important topics. The market continues to move towards us. We’re a brand with heritage but our time is definitely now, which is exciting.
What are the challenges of leading a brand and navigating the current retail climate?
Tough. To have a sustainable business you need to be financially sustainable. That’s always a challenge. And you’re navigating the ever-changing landscape of geopolitical issues – you have to be on your game to navigate these.
Treating and paying people fairly takes a lot of resources. [That includes] all the farmers and growers that we work with around the world ensuring they are all treated fairly too.
Apart from the health and wellbeing aspect, we have a fully modernised eco-manufacturing facility at Peacemarsh – this includes a state-of-the-art R&D lab because we wanted to prove that we could make high performance skincare. It’s an amazing hotbed of synergy – a fusion between the wisdom of the therapeutic ingredients and cutting-edge green technology and chemistry.
Neal’s Yard Remedies, Woman’s Balance Body Cream £35 for 200ml
Can you share me something about Neal’s Yard Remedies commitment to wellbeing as well as sustainability?
I’m a homeopath as is our founder Romy. It’s the DNA of the brand. It’s in our logo – the tree intertwined with the roots. If you feed the roots, the tree will flourish. It’s integral and core to everything that we do. The therapeutic benefits of [aromatherapy] plants are so important. You need to combine that with modern technology, making sure you are up with the times.
You have recently relaunched Frankincense Intense™. Do you prefer to reformulate your existing products rather than adding more into the range?
Since formulating the range in 2013, the landscape of certified organic ingredients and green technology has totally evolved. It is so exciting, as there are so many more ingredients we can work with now. I’m so thankful for the other organic natural health and beauty brands because they have increased demand, which means there are many more ingredients [like plant peptides] available for organic formulations. This wasn’t so in the past. The great thing about the plant peptides is they’re so much more bioavailable, so we noticed really quick results, which was extraordinary.
We all want more and quicker. But looking at what you do and reflecting on it and making it better is always the way forward. Of course, we’ll introduce some new products but not just for the sake of having something new.
Frankincense tree in Oman. Neal Yard’s Remedies sustainably source their pure essential oil from the Dhofar region Oman, the cultural home of the finest frankincense
What are the biggest highs you’ve had in your time at Neal’s Yard Remedies?
Where shall we start? This last couple of weeks have been incredible. We’ve had that great win banning neonicotinoids and, in the same week, we won Country & Town House magazine’s Brand of the Decade in the Great British Brand 2025 Awards. Also, we won the Sustainable Luxury Brand of the Year at the Walpole British Luxury Awards 2023. It was really emotional and brilliant winning two big awards. I couldn’t quite believe it. We are really being recognised now.
How do you see beauty and wellbeing developing in the future?
I think wellbeing is going to become more and more central for everybody. When I think about 44 years of Neal’s Yard Remedies, it was such a niche part of the beauty industry, which it isn’t now. What we do – results-driven wellbeing – is going to grow massively. There’s also going to be greater innovation in green chemistry. I’m sure there’ll be more decent, land-grown ingredients and farming, more certified organic and natural ingredients too.
When we first entered the beauty industry, collaboration wasn’t really happening. It was very competitive. I think my coalition, born out of a genuine campaign to save the bees, not wanting pesticides in our land and waterways [shows the direction of travel]. Now even the big companies like Proctor and Gamble and L’Oréal are coming on board.
And that’s how we change it. We have us – the crusaders, the pioneers – campaigning. This where being the CEO and leader of our business is really significant. I can make sure we stay true to our purpose.
by Caroline Simpson