Profits soar as firm expands
A couple who started their business in their kitchen are setting their sights globally after launching a groundbreaking product for the horse and pony market.
Boosted by support from Business Link West Midlands, Tim and Elaine Woodley have seen Red Star Natural Liquid Soaps grow beyond their wildest dreams and are now looking at providing their natural household soaps and pet shampoos to a growing distribution network in the UK, Finland, Denmark and the United States.
They are even talking to the camel racing community in Arabic countries to develop a specialist shampoo for the "ship of the desert".
The business in Kinver now employs another three people part time and Tim and Elaine are still making the solid soaps and smaller batches of liquid soaps in their kitchen, but bulk amounts of the liquid products are now being manufactured at the Lichfield factory of Provimi, the international pet products and animal feed giant.
The soaps are mainly sold on-line direct to customers, but the business is steadily building a distributor network both in the UK and overseas with products regularly exported to Europe and the Americas.
