A SERIAL entrepreneur and his partner have seen un-bee-lievable growth of their sustainable honey business.
Daniel Webster, 25, and his partner Emily-Kate McDonnellfrom Kinross launched Webster Honey in 2015 after a discussion about eco-friendly and sustainable businesses.
Daniel, who also runs a construction company and a ballooning company, said: “We started this business together, partly to be green as bees are so important to the eco-system and have been in decline in recent years, and partly to counteract the huge stress of running a construction company.
“We like to make business fun, and wanted something to give us a different focus that we could be involved in together.”
The couple initially bought a few hives which were given to primary schools across Scotland as far afield as Ballanahuilish in the Highlands to sponsor and they now engage with them directly in educational projects about honey bees.
Webster Honey engaged its own Beekeeper who went into the schools to carry out lessons on the importance of bees to the eco system, and the process and timescale of honey being created.
As well as educating young people around Scotland, the company also sell their honey in farm shops and delis across the country, but as the product is seasonal it sells out fast.
The couple now have 100 hives across Scotland with plans to introduce another 16 following completion of the construction of their eco-friendly headquarters in their hometown.
Emily-Kate, who also works at CHAS, said: “We are going to place the hives around the whole area of the office headquarters as an extra site.
“The whole project, the office and the pods, are all going to be as sustainable as possible, with air source heat pumps, solar panels and grass roofs.”
The entrepreneurs want to find a way to ‘bee’ Scotland’s biggest bee employer and sell sustainable honey all year round.
They also hope that as they grow, they will be able to open Beekeeping School to add an extra dimension to the business.
