Meet Scott Rudd and Emma Tapper, co-founders of The Friendly Chemical Co
Founded by Scott Rudd and Emma Tapper in 2017, The Friendly Chemical Co. (FCC) is leading the way for a more environmentally friendly future. In just under four years, FCC has become one of the fastest-growing sustainable chemical manufacturers in the UK.
Based in Keighley, Yorkshire, the business creates approximately 2 million sustainably resourced products each year, supplied to over 1,500 natural food, zero waste and farm shops across the UK. It is a leading manufacturer of branded (Miniml & Good Human Skincare) and private label products for the domestic household and personal care products, operating a fully closed-loop system to create a completely zero waste supply chain.
There’s always a lightbulb moment before the beginning of a new venture. What was that moment for you?
Emma: We met at university, which is when we started talking about the amount of single-use plastic created each year. Everyone was starting to realise how wasteful it was, and the scale of the problem – it’s nearly impossible to go a day without using plastic. We wanted to create a business that showed you can develop a completely zero-waste basis.
Scott: We researched and saw that domestic cleaning products were creating the most plastic waste. We decided to develop our own environmentally friendly washing up liquid, which would be packaged with sustainable materials. We created our first prototype – now the basis for our Miniml range – in our tiny garage in Leeds, which got us a few funny looks from the neighbours…
Initially we were making 200 litres of product a month out of the garage, using drums from Facebook marketplace! We’ve since gone to manufacturing 100,000 litres a month from a state of the art 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Keighley.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
Emma: I think our size sets us apart. The eco-friendly domestic products market is big business these days, and a lot of our competitors are much larger or part of a conglomerate. We’re now a team of 14, and our agility means we can turn new ideas around really quickly for customers, going from initial concept to product in around three months. Competitors might outnumber us, but we’re ahead of the curve in this respect.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
Emma: In the early days, Scott and I had to do every aspect of running a business – finance, R&D, HR, manufacturing and even packaging! We started it all from scratch but jumping in at the deep end meant we learned a lot. In the last year, we’ve gone from a team of three to 14, so now one of our biggest learning curves is managing a growing team and creating a culture that keeps everyone happy and motivated – which I think we’ve been able to do!
Tell us about your experience prior to launching your business?
Scott: Whilst we had the initial idea for FCC at university, it didn’t become our full-time jobs straight after graduation – we’d be at our ‘day jobs’ before heading to our garage to make products in the evening. I worked as a fund manager for a while, and Emma was in the marketing team for a huge company. It helped us self-fund FCC and proved to us that we wanted to create our own business and work for ourselves.
With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?
Scott: “Leaving a minimal impact on the planet” is our mission, and we operate a fully closed loop system. We’re one of the only businesses in the industry that do that, leading the refillable market. We reuse and refill every single bottle of our own brand range that we sell. Some competitors collect large barrels to refill, but we literally collect everything, from 1,000 litre drums to 100ml bottles. We pick the empties up directly from our stockists or customers’ homes, and we also recently launched in-store refill stations with some of our retailers. It means we’re helping to save 84 tonnes of waste each year, as well as operating a zero-waste supply chain.
What plans do you have for The Friendly Chemical Co over the next two years?
Scott: So far, all our growth has been organic. We’ve quadrupled our team, seen our revenues jump by over 280% and started directly selling our new range to over 1,500 stores in just twelve months. Whilst this organic growth is still on track – we’re looking to make £3m by 2022 – we’re also now considering external investment or funding to help us scale the business as sales demand rises. We know that picking the right partner or company will help us to accelerate the business even further.
Emma: The team is constantly working on product development, so expanding our existing brand and launching new ranges will also be a focus. We’re currently working on a new brand for roll out this year, which will be our first venture into the ethical skincare and cosmetics market.
How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?
Emma: Incredibly important. We’re growing fast, so creating a culture where the team can thrive has been key to attracting talented people who want to grow with us. We’ve made sure that everyone understands their route to progression and we’re also Living Wage employer. This isn’t the norm in manufacturing – though it should be.
I think it’s helped to keep the team motivated, even on tough days. Everyone digs in and supports each other. It might sound cheesy, but we do feel like one big family and part of something special together.
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
Emma: Employing people who are better at certain things than Scott and I! We both love creating new formulations and products, and the creative side of the business comes naturally, but in the early days we had to do everything ourselves. Now, we’ve got an excellent team behind us who are experienced when it comes to logistics, finance, HR, and other functions. Scott and I still obviously keep close to these areas of the business, but by being less hands-on, it means we have more time and headspace to grow the business.
How do you believe the evolution of tech will affect your industry over the next 10 years?
Scott: In terms of manufacturing, I see it as a positive for FCC. We’re currently looking to invest in more automation, and I understand some people can get nervous about automation and what it means for jobs. That’s not the case here though, and it’s certainly not going to be used to downsize our teams. Instead, we want to upskill them, training them up on more advanced machinery that frees up their time to focus on other aspects of the job.
What advice would you give to early-stage founders wanting to create a positive impact?
Emma: Despite what people might assume about owning and running your own business, it’s not going to be glamorous for a long time! In the early days, we were literally in the warehouse on our own, manually mixing the products, filling the packaging, and labelling everything. You must be willing to get involved in the nitty gritty to succeed.
Scott: Something Emma and I talk about a lot is being a ‘do-er’ or a ‘think-er’ and being a ‘do-er’ helped us when we first started out. It also helps if you are comfortable pivoting in the early stages. For example, we initially wanted to be a private label manufacturer, but we quickly realised our time was better spent growing our own brands, such as Miniml and Good Human Skincare. By focusing on our own brands, we’ve been able to get our name out there more and have complete control over our product and our sustainable mission, and now we’re 80% own brand, 20% private label supply. If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to adjust your idea and try something new.
Describe your business in three words.
Scott: Dynamic, sustainable, innovative
