Baylis and Harding

This week I went to visit the Redditch (Worcestershire) base of Baylis and Harding along with a number of other local bloggers.  Baylis and Harding  was founded in the 1960s by David Slater and Marcia Simmons, then known as Midlands Cosmetic Sales.  We met the current generation (children of the founders): Adrian Slater and Tania Fossey.  They took over the company; developed it; rebranded it to Baylis and Harding; and grew it into the successful gift and toiletry company it is today.

Baylis and Harding is named for Adrian and Tania’s grandmothers who were great homemakers and there are pictures of these ladies all around the headquarters building.  Baylis and Harding’s offices are beautifully designed and rather a surprise to find on an industrial estate.

One of the key principles that the company works to is to provide affordable, but luxurious bath and body care products.  They do this partly by simple economies of scale like using the same size and shape of bottles again and again. Challenging the cost of their ingredients is another way: in fact, they decide what something should cost to the customer and then work backwards to provide it at that price.  This is reflected in the pricing structure because you can buy Baylis and Harding products for as little as £2 and nothing from their ranges will cost you more than £45 to buy. Some might say why is it so cheap to buy, but I have to say I agree with the directors of the company when they say ‘why should you have to pay more?’ It does make me wonder how much we are paying just for a brand name sometimes rather than for better ingredients or a more effective product.

It was great to hear about a British owned, family run company, based in the Midlands, that is doing well in a recession.  I hadn’t realised until my visit that they were based in Midlands and whilst they had a British sounding name I hadn’t realised that they were independent and family owned.

At the end of the day, just before we went home, we got the chance to do a supermarket sweep.  You know I’ve always wanted to do that.  This was a less frenzed affair than when you see it all on television as we didn’t have a particular time limit and everyone was too polite in any case.  We had a very large (and strong) carrier to fill each.  There was a varied selection of products and gift packs available and I picked up one of everything to try.  I hadn’t realised that they had a haircare range: Great Hair, nor did I realise that they were behind the children’s ranges of Mr Men bath goodies and Funky Farm products.