By Rachel Wild: Wild As The Wind Natural Skincare & Essential Oils
The UK commercial landscape has presented many challenges for British companies in recent years. The rollout of Brexit amid a backdrop of repeated lockdowns, supply-line issues, and economic and political instability, has tested even the most enduring of UK companies.
Sadly, many have gone to the wall, with others facing imminent restructuring and rationalisation. Even stalwart businesses, such as the Co-op, are faltering.
The Co-op, a household name for nearly two centuries, shares the same origins as William Hodgson. Both saw their inception in Manchester in the eighteen hundreds. But, whilst the Co-op has scaled to an enormous multi-faceted concern, William Hodgson has remained a small, family run business, with an enviable reputation for excellence, within an increasingly popular niche.
So, as businesses like the Co-op are feeling the bite, resorting to downsizing in these increasingly complex and uncertain times, William Hodgson remains as steadfast as always. Small and nimble, the shockwaves from numerous multi-directional assaults, have done very little to steer William Hodgson from its course.
William Hodgson is a leading UK supplier of cosmetic ingredients. It adeptly serves a diverse client base, ranging from artisanal businesses, like Wild As the Wind, to multi-national concerns.
The UK cosmetic ingredients market is highly regulated, with standards maintained by a good number of governing bodies. This requires very administratively intensive processes.
As ingredients are sourced from all over the world, this has meant that the implications of Brexit have been acutely felt by William Hodgson.
This major transition, undertaken throughout a period of severe Covid restrictions, has nevertheless, appeared seamless from a client perspective. The unfathomable amount of administrative tumult, surging like a colossal, unending wave, has seemingly been met by a resolute, turbine-like efficiency, so that only calm waters emerge from the other side.
This is surely testament to a number of deeply important factors, all of which hinge upon the culture which exists within William Hodgson. Steeped in market insight, due to the retention of knowledge gained throughout the generations, coupled with the industry recognition that goes with this, William Hodgson has clearly been able to rely on an internal culture of mutual support to mount a galvanised approach to the protracted challenges its had to face.
It is this unstinting commitment, and tireless competence, which has inspired this short article.
As a small customer of William Hodgson’s excellent and extensive organic essential oil and carrier oil range, I have sat quietly back and marvelled at their adaptability.
And, because Wild As The Wind Natural Skincare & Essential Oils operates within the same sector, I am reasonably uniquely positioned to truly appreciate the gargantuan impact the last couple of years have had in a greater context.
Effectively, I have had the unenviable privilege of witnessing other, less cohesive and less knowledgeable suppliers implode under the pressure.
So, I possess first-hand experience of the inherited chaos of supplier shortfalls, being turbulently thrown about in the wake of failed efforts by suppliers to navigate the challenges of Brexit, in an era of Covid.
Sadly, some have found it an insurmountable task, and are no more. Others are righting their ships, and learning from their mistakes, but may still fail to survive the inevitable rigors of a severe economic downturn.
Thankfully, William Hodgson are the leading UK essential oil and carrier oil supplier of Wild As The Wind Natural Skincare & Essential Oils, and their professionalism and fortitude has minimised most of the potentially catastrophic impacts of recent events.
We rely on a couple of other multi-generational, family run businesses for a number of other niche ingredients, who have also fared relatively well, despite all of the disruptions.
In this, we have been incredibly fortunate. It has meant that our full natural skincare product range, which is exclusively made using essential oils and carrier oils, as well as our retail essential oil and carrier oil offerings, have not been directly affected.
However, bottle and closure supplies have been a completely different story! Our bottle supplier closed its doors at the first sign of trouble in the first lockdown, refunding a very large Wild As The Wind order for bottles on their way out of the door. Glassware supplies continue to be an ongoing issue.
Ancillary items, such as posting and packaging supplies, have also been exceptionally tricky, but as there are more players in this space, it has presented less of a challenge.
Nevertheless, trying to source new suppliers during the lockdown period was a little short of hellish. And, the burdens of transitioning Wild As The Wind from EU inclusion, to a post-Brexit UK, have been onerous in the extreme.
If it weren’t for the commitment of Wild As The Wind to work with suppliers of the stature of William Hodgson, we would surely be facing the same fate as so many other small businesses who have ceased trading over the last couple of years.
Instead, Wild As The Wind continues to offer one of the most extensive ranges of
essential oils and carrier oils in the UK, and has earned a reputation for retailing some of the best UK essential oils and carrier oils available.
And, we largely owe our reputation to William Hodgson.
Our carrier oil range is almost exclusively supplied by William Hodgson, as is most of our organic essential oil range. In addition, a good number of the Wild As The Wind non-organic essential oils are also sourced from William Hodgson.
The reason for this is simple:
Wild As The Wind has attempted to work with other UK essential oil and carrier oil suppliers, but there have always been drawbacks. Even if essential oil and carrier quality has been excellent, other issues have marred processes enough to ensure a withdrawal of support.
In such a highly regulated and competitive market it is not enough to be able to source premium grade essential oils and carrier oils.
Suppliers need to be broadly competent. Systems need to be sufficiently flexible to ensure agility. And, being administratively coherent is a must.
Other UK essential oil and carrier oil suppliers have failed in these areas, placing unfeasible burdens on a small business like as Wild As The Wind.
Administrative shortfalls, on the part of suppliers, are profoundly problematic for small businesses. There is no time to constantly chase legally required certificates, and other necessary paperwork.
In the three years that Wild As The Wind have worked with William Hodgson processes have been consistently seamless, regardless of eternal demands and challenges.
As this level of professionalism is in stark contrast to so many other UK essential oil and carrier oil suppliers, and because the quality of their essential oils and carrier oils cannot be equalled, inevitably, Wild As The Wind will continue to turn to William Hodgson as our chief supplier.
