The English Soap Company

The English Soap Company is a family-run British soap and toiletries maker founded in 2000 and based at a farm site in Waldron, East Sussex, in southern England [2]. It began when a husband-and-wife team, Bob and Juliet, came across vintage soap moulds in a Kent machinery workshop and set out to master soap-making and perfumery. From a kitchen-table venture, the company grew into a business that, by its own account, exports to more than 40 countries.

The company remains actively trading. Its homepage marks "25 Years of Soap Making" and displays a Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award for 2026 alongside verified customer reviews [1].

According to the company's account, Bob and Juliet discovered a set of vintage soap moulds in a Kent machinery workshop and became absorbed in perfecting the craft of soap-making and perfumery [2]. What began at the kitchen table moved to a farm in the Sussex countryside, where manufacturing, head office and distribution are now situated together. The founders' son, Oliver Butts, took over as managing director in 2012, later becoming chief executive.

The business dates its founding to 2000. A 2023 regional business report describes Oliver Butts becoming managing director in 2012; this refers to a change in leadership rather than to the company's founding [6]. By 2017 the range had grown beyond soap to include hand creams, sanitisers, shower gels, perfumes and candles.

According to that report in South East Business, the company's turnover reached £5.2 million in the 2022/23 financial year, and its headcount grew from 26 to 63 employees over four years [6]. The company marked its 25th anniversary in 2025.

The English Soap Company describes itself first as a soap maker, producing pure vegetable soap bars that it says are triple-milled and enriched with shea butter, wrapped in ornate, vintage-style packaging [2]. The wider range spans hand washes, hand creams, body oils, shower gels, perfumes and scented candles. A recurring line is the Kew Gardens collection, produced in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and described by the company as inspired by the fragrances of the gardens' plants.

The company states that everything it sells is made in-house at its Sussex farm site. It presents its products as vegan and cruelty-free, noting that its soap bars use pure vegetable oils and no animal products, and that its candles are made from soy wax [3]. One exception the company discloses is beeswax in its luxury hand creams, which are therefore not vegan [3].

The company frames itself as a purpose-driven, family-run business and lists six core values: kindness, honesty, accountability, quality, teamwork and sustainability [4]. Its stated mission is to "deliver excellence while honouring" those values and to make a positive impact locally and globally [4].

Sustainability features prominently in how the company positions itself, though its claims are specific rather than absolute. It states that it uses palm oil only from members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an industry certification body, rather than being palm-oil-free [3]. On packaging, the company says its paper wraps are recyclable and biodegradable, its cardboard is FSC-certified, and its bottles are fully recyclable and made from post-consumer recycled resin.

The company reports several regional business awards. In 2023 it was named Export Manufacturer of the Year at Insider Media's Made in the South East Awards and received an Exporter of the Year award from the Department of International Trade's Business Champion Awards [6]. It was also highly commended for International Business of the Year at the Sussex Business Awards and shortlisted at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards that year.

The English Soap Company is active. It continues to manufacture and sell from its Sussex site, has exported to markets including the United States, Sweden, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, and displayed a 2026 Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award on its site.