The luxury soap company refusing to compromise

Made in East London, as well as in a second, more traditional workshop in the Lake District, all Soap Co products are made by one of their 114 staff, 80% of which have a disability or a long-term health condition.

‘The majority of our staff are registered disabled and everyone has their own story, with some of my team having learning differences, epilepsy, long term health conditions and for some, accidents later in life which have caused a major shift in their life. One team member had reconstructive back surgery after a car accident, and after about 3 years of lying down, was ready to come back into the workplace.’

CLARITY and as a result, The Soap Co., is built upon years of supporting people who have faced barriers to work. And what’s more, all profits made from selling the products they make, is reinvested into the company, providing employees with the support they need to rebuild their confidence and learn new skills to help them move onwards and upwards in their careers.

Camilla explains how to complement the clean aesthetic of their products, they also have Braille on the front of their packaging: ‘This sometimes leads people to believe that we’re all about visual impairment, which isn’t entirely correct. About 40% of our staff have a visual impairment, but we have people here with a wide range of other challenges as well.’

When it comes to the challenges that The Soap Co face as company, Camilla explains that mostly it comes down to the amount of risk that they are able to take. ‘I think the fact that we put people over profits creates the backdrop to the challenges we face. We are committed to creating employment and training opportunities - and it’s definitely about the triple bottom line.’ This has been challenging for the development of new ranges - ‘for our product development, we rely on the goodwill of a huge network of volunteers from big corporates, other similar brands and also student chemists, which means that there is not much room for trial and error. Where larger companies may have access to lots of venture capital money - or be fortunate enough to have a large R&D budget, they can launch a product and if it fails, just try again with another one.’

It’s clear that Camilla, CLARITY and everyone at The Soap Co are more than passionate, and fierce in their determination that there is no excuse for compromising product or social responsibility.

‘I think it is as simple as seeing someone come into the organisation who has been out of work for a long period of time having suffered a major life crisis - like a stroke - and watching as they get their confidence back and enjoy being in a working and supportive environment.’

As for what’s next for The Soap Co team, things are only set to grow bigger and faster over the coming months. ‘There is so much happening. We are in the process of bringing a major new soap brand to market and we’re so excited for you to see it as soon as this summer on shelves around the UK!’ With this kind of growth comes the need for team expansion and as a result they’re now looking to hire across sales, business development, marketing and social media. Exciting times. And times that we welcome as we continue on our own journey of learning how to sustain doing things properly as we grow. We are so excited to watch and learn from other companies across diverse sectors, refusing to offer style over substance and instead, doing things properly.

You can find Soap Co. online and across social media, as well in luxury retailers around the UK and beyond.