Neal's Yard Remedies

Neal's Yard Remedies, Covent Garden, London
Neal's Yard Remedies

Neal's Yard Remedies is a British seller of organic natural health and beauty products. Neal's Yard Remedies was founded in 1981 in Covent Garden, London. As of 2017 they have 59 stores across the UK.[1] They company also sells its products in Canada,[2] Japan[3] and the USA.[4] In 2009 the company launched a multi-level marketing operation in the UK and US.

History

The first Neal's Yard Remedies shop was opened in 1981 by Romy Fraser in Neal's Yard in Covent Garden. The shop offered dried herbs, homoeopathic products, essential oils, Bach flower remedies, and a range of toiletries based on herbs and essential oils.[5][6]

In 1985 a small factory was opened in South London to meet increasing demand. In 1986 they opened two new shops and they have continued to grow. They now have 40 shops, 64 Therapy Rooms and 400 stockists in the UK, including department stores like John Lewis and Fenwicks, and can be found in branches of Boots and Waitrose.

In 2005 Neal's Yard Remedies head office moved from South London to a new purpose-built eco-factory facility at Peacemarsh, near Gillingham, Dorset. That same year Fraser sold the business to Peter Kindersley,[7] former publisher and owner of Sheepdrove Organic Farm, for an undisclosed amount.

In 2007, Fraser was awarded an OBE in recognition for services to the health and beauty industry[6][8]

Awards

  • 2005: Among several recipients of an award from the RSPCA for being one the UK's best achievers in the treatment of animals[9]
  • 2009: Best British Brand 2009, CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women)[10]
  • 2009: Best British Organic Skin Product, CEW[10]
  • 2009: Best Organic/Natural Product, Sunday Times Style Beauty Awards[11]
  • 2015: Winner, innovation award, supply chain category, Guardian Sustainable Business Awards[12]

Eco factory

In 2005 the company's headquarters and production moved to the new purpose-built eco-factory in Dorset, designed and built by green architect specialists Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

Built on a 5.2 hectare site on the fringes of Gillingham in Dorset, the aim was to provide a people-focused, environmentally responsible building sympathetic to its rural setting, with the smallest possible carbon footprint, which could also bring valuable work opportunities to the rural location. Conservation of natural resources was also a priority in the design and construction of the building, including investigations of on-site energy generation, water conservation, the collection of rainwater and the use of low embodied energy materials. The project was a successful test bed for the use of unfired clay bricks to add internal thermal mass; the building has a leakage rate of less than one fifth of the statutory requirements.

Neal's Yard Remedies Organic

Neal's Yard Remedies Organic was launched by Kindersley in the United Kingdom in April 2009, and in the United States in September 2009. Neal's Yard Remedies Organic is the multi-level marketing subsidiary of the company.[13]

Ingredients Policy

The company maintains a policy of not using animal testing on ethical grounds, genetically modified organisms and nanoparticles due to uncertainty regarding long-term implications, and a number of synthetic and petrochemical ingredients which may be associated with health and environmental issues.

Research

In 2009, the company commissioned researchers from Kingston University to test the health properties of 21 plant and herb extracts. The research findings were published in the online open-access journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.[14]

Criticisms

In April 2008, the company was investigated by the BBC for claiming that the homoeopathic preparations they sell can help prevent and treat serious fatal diseases such as malaria. It was reported that this practice was "highly dangerous and it puts people's lives at risk."[15] Subsequently the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the product was "clearly intended to be viewed as a treatment or preventive" and the company's actions "potentially harmful to public health and misleading"; Neal's Yard accepted there was no proof that it worked and have discontinued the product.[16]

In May 2009 The Guardian's Ethical Living blog invited the company to participate in an online discussion, having apparently received confirmation of willingness for discussion.[17] A later posting from a Guardian editor stated that Neal's Yard was "working on replies".[17] Following the posting of questions about the efficacy of their remedies, and comments of a sceptical nature towards Neal's Yard alternative medicines, the company decided not to participate in the discussion, and the thread was therefore closed.[17] The refusal of Neal's Yard Remedies to answer any of the questions was criticised by public relations experts.[18][19]

References

  1. ↑ "Store Locator". Neal's Yard Remedies. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  2. ↑ nealsyardremedies.ca
  3. ↑ NealsYard.co.jp
  4. ↑ nyrusa.com
  5. ↑ Nachman, Sherrie: The Unbeaten Path: In London, a New (Age) England, The Washington Post, 3 May 1998.
  6. 1 2 "Marks and Spencer's Rose honoured". BBC News. 29 December 2007.
  7. ↑ Shepard, Anna: Neal's Yard founder: a real eco pioneer Archived 15 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine., The Times, 23 August 2008
  8. ↑ Booth, Robert (29 December 2007). "Retailing High street king is now a knight". The Guardian. London.
  9. ↑ McDonald's praised for happy cows, BBC News, 13 October 2005.
  10. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  11. ↑ Best Organic/Natural Product, Sunday Times, 10 May 2009
  12. ↑ Beavis, Lynn (2015-04-30). "Fair trading for the future". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  13. ↑ "Organic Monitor Report". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012.
  14. ↑ Thring TS, Hili P, Naughton DP. (4 August 2009). "Anti-collagenase, anti-elastase and anti-oxidant activities of extracts from 21 plants". BMC Complement Altern Med. 9 (27): 27. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-9-27. PMC 2728709. PMID 19653897. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  15. ↑ Homeopathic remedy claims are disputed, BBC South West, 11 April 2008.
  16. ↑ "Firm 'misled' over malaria drug". BBC News. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  17. 1 2 3 Vaughan, Adam (26 May 2009). "You ask, they answer: Neal's Yard Remedies". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  18. ↑ Vaughan, Adam (28 May 2009). "The PR lessons from Neal's Yard Remedies public debate U-turn". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  19. ↑ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/29/graun_neals_yard_storm/
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