Sweet Cecily is a small business star

Cecily Fearnley, who graduated from our University with a LLB (Hons) Law degree in 2008, received the award at the #SBSEvent2016 in Birmingham for her online skincare business, Sweet Cecily’s, which she established in 2011.

Cecily created the company from her home in Whitby, asking Facebook users what sorts of products, smells and ingredients they liked, getting them to test her products and finally using the site to recruit staff including a web designer and illustrator.

Cecily explained: “Sweet Cecily's ethos is that through community, co-operation and support, great things are achievable. With a very modest budget, we took to social media for market research, product suggestions, product testing and much more.

“Through Facebook and Twitter we found ourselves with a loyal group of people who really wanted to see Sweet Cecily’s succeeding. We wanted people to feel like they had a real part in the finished products, so each and every hand cream, face cream or lip balm now has a little story attached to it as to how it came about; such as our Mojito lip balm that was dreamt up by my sister’s old university housemate!”

The focus of Sweet Cecily’s is on natural skincare products with a personal touch. The company is part of natural medicine manufacturer Nature’s Laboratory, set up in 2002 by James Fearnley, which has its foundations in the research, manufacture and supply of herbal medicines. 

Speaking about her time at Leeds Beckett, Cecily said: “By studying Law at university, I set myself up with all the skills to understand the legalities of running a business. Whilst at Leeds Beckett I studied Employment Law, Consumer Law and Copyright Law (amongst everything else) which have all been very useful, and I also have the ability to read and understand the legal information I now come across, such as product regulations.

“I use my legal knowledge every day in one way or another, whether it is understanding the legal requirements for selling skincare, or simply running a business that employs staff. The downside is I am always the one to have to read through all the complicated legal documents within the whole company!"  

The Small Business Sunday awards, which showcase six businesses each week, were created by Theo Paphitis in October 2010 and operate through Twitter. Theo 'retweets' the winner's business summary to his 450,000 followers, bringing instant and wide attention to the business.

Small businesses from all over the country, recognised by Theo on Twitter, came together for the #SBSEvent2016 event at Birmingham's ICC which includes networking, inspirational talks, and the presentation of winners’ certificates by Theo.

Cecily commented: “You really can't beat the feeling of seeing people enjoy and appreciate the products that we have come up with. We do a lot of personalised gifts, such as lip balms for wedding favours and ‘make your own’ lip balm kits which make great presents, so being able to see these being enjoyed by the recipient is second to none.”

Since 2011, Sweet Cecily’s has gone from strength to strength, now selling online, in various UK stores and exporting to South Korea.

To view the Sweet Cecily’s product range, please visit www.sweetcecilys.com.