Starting up

A comment was left on an earlier posting by Catherine who wanted to know the supplier of the fantastic citrus oils I had sourced. Regrettably I had to reply that I do not disclose this information for competitive reasons – which she accepted but playfully retorted that she was only just starting in business and hoped that in a couple of years time she would be a serious threat to me!

I liked the pluckiness probably because it reminded me of me. In the early 70’s when I was trying to source new materials to increase my shelf I found it really hard to persuade suppliers to sell me small quantities. But one company – H E Daniel – sent me a price list that quoted materials down to 250gm. Delighted I wrote out a long list and placed the order, only to hear back a few days later that they had sent me their export list by mistake – their UK list started at 5Kgs.

After some discussion they were prepared on this occasion to honour the order and I wrote them a letter thanking them and saying that they might regret this when I was a multinational about to take them over. Alas things didn’t quite turn out that way but I used those materials to create some fragrances that, looking back, created the financial backing essential to allow the business to grow. So to H E Daniel, you’re probably safe now – but don’t get complacent!