At 23, former bricklayer Scott Davies founded Hilltop Honey with a £5,000 overdraft and no previous knowledge of beekeeping or business.
Today the 37-year-old entrepreneur has the UK’s second-largest honey brand, with a turnover of £44mn and a range of products in major supermarkets. Davies decided to try beekeeping when a serious back injury at 22 left him unable to work for a year.
Based in his home town of Newtown, mid-Wales, Davies employs 130 people. The head office and factory site span four acres, producing over 1,000 tonnes of honey a month. In September 2022 Davies diversified into producing peanut butter, at a second site.
In May 2024, Davies bought a small Pate factory in North Wales, Patchwork Pate. In January, he acquired half a bakery chain, Waterfields, in the north-west. The two ventures employ 350 staff.
CV
Born: Newtown, Powys, February 2, 1988
Education: 1999-2004: Newtown High School, left at 16 (GCSEs in history, maths, business studies)
2004-05: Coleg Powys, Newtown, one year’s course NVQ Level 2 Bricklaying
Career: Age 16: Summer job, furniture removals
17-18 years old: Bricklayer
Age 18-21: Coal packer and digger driver
Age 23: founded Hilltop Honey
Lives: Newtown, Powys, with wife Ffion and children: Evie, Eddie and Xander, with a new baby due in April.
If you had not injured your back, would you still be a bricklayer?
I would have started my own building firm. I had an absolute desire to create my own business, but I am surprised to have ended up in food and drink.
My father is a retired sheep farmer, and my mother worked as a district nurse leader for the county. When I was out of work I was in an awful lot of pain, and referred relentlessly to doctors and physios.
I spent my time playing computer games and reading. I came across a book about beekeeping and was intrigued. In March 2011 my parents bought me the first beehive for £250. I spent £100 on a bee suit.
As I recovered, I painted a few houses to pay for 12 beehives. After a month I ran out of honey to sell. A commercial beekeeper needs 300 hives.
How did you create Hilltop Honey?
I was not a great beekeeper, but I soon recognised an opportunity. There were many retired people in the country who had a lot of beehives and honey, but they had no marketing skills or desire to sell it and create a brand. The average age of beekeeper in the UK is 63.
I contacted these bee farmers. Initially they were wary, but I went with my father and collected a few pots of honey from each farmer. I had just enough to pay them.
The first four years of building Hilltop was through British beekeepers. We would buy the honey and sell it through farm shops, delicatessens and garden centres. The real breakthrough came when I got British honey into Holland & Barrett in 2014, and Tesco in 2015. The other supermarkets soon followed.
I now barely produce any honey myself, but I still visit many beekeepers to test the honey and check they are producing it in the right way.
The Hilltop brand today is honey from all over the world. We are obsessed with provenance. I have travelled far to source the best honey, from the mountains of New Zealand and the plains of Mexico to Outer Mongolia and Hungarian forests.
What did you have to sacrifice?
I had to sacrifice time and my early twenties. Either I was packing honey, dealing with suppliers, meeting customers, or going out to food festivals every weekend to sell honey to consumers. My friends and relatives helped me whenever they could.
What is your view on the October Budget?
It is a disaster. I’m not sure what the government is trying to accomplish. Raising the minimum wage and the national insurance contribution for employers is one thing, but lowering the band (secondary threshold) was a killer blow to part-time employment. At Hilltop, I estimate we will be paying another £150,000 in extra costs.
In the bakery I have just bought, the 200 part-timers have become seriously costly to employ, up to another £500,000, that will force us to make some tough decisions. In January we were too far along the purchase process to back out, believing we could turn around a 98-year-old business.
Do you have a pension?
I only started a private pension four years ago, for myself and my wife, this is when I felt financially able, and we pay in the maximum each year. I believe in the benefit of pensions personally and for the team.
Are you good with personal finance?
I am very good. I manage stocks and shares and Isas for myself and my wife. I don’t have a financial adviser; I’ve just learned how to invest myself. Hilltop has taught me everything you need to know about how companies generate profits. I read about the world economy and its impact on shares most evenings.
Do you believe in giving something back to the community?
We have the Hilltop Community Fund, that offers a £10,000 grant to businesses and charities within a 15-mile radius of the factory. We sponsor the local football team, cricket club, golf club, and rugby clubs with kits.
If you inherited £1mn, how would you spend it?
I would help my immediate family members to pay off their mortgages and buy the cars they want. I would not use the windfall for myself. Hilltop has given me everything I want. I bought an old nursing home with a large garden in January 2024 and converted it into a 10-bedroom house. My mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law live in the annex.
Your best investment advice?
Stick to the sector you understand — for me that is food and drink — and don’t chase the quick money. Be happy with a steady return. I do have a portion of my portfolio, 10 per cent, for risk in other sectors. The most important thing is to start investing in shares or a pension as early as you can, to benefit from the compound effect.
