You might not expect to find the headquarters of an Irish skincare company next door to a butcher’s shop – not least in a small town in west Cork.

Yet, at Modern Botany in Schull, co-founders Dr Simon Jackson and John Murray are building an Irish beauty brand with international aspirations, which they firmly believe will provide new opportunities for Irish farmers.

But first, a little background, starting with John, who was not always destined for the beauty business. One of six children raised on a pig farm in Donoughmore, Co Cork, his career path veered from stints as a trainee butcher and a construction worker to an ordained priest, before leaving to work in health and social care project management in the UK.

“It was a bit checkered all right and it definitely wasn’t planned,” he smiles, “but all good experiences and I suppose you learn something from all of your experiences.”

Simon, who hails from the Lincolnshire Wolds in the UK, came to the world of skincare through science, after first learning about pharmacognosy – the study of medicinal drugs derived from natural sources – as an undergraduate.

“I was really blown away as a young student studying medicine and drug discovery, about how plants are nearly the origins of most of our medicines,” he says, citing aspirin – which is derived from the willow tree – as an everyday example.

He later went on to specialise in cancer skin care and drugs discovery in natural products, with research positions at King’s College, University of London and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. When the department he was working in shut down, however, he set up Dr Jackson’s Natural Products, specialising in luxury skincare inspired by the principals of pharmacognosy.

It was around this time that Simon and John first met, becoming partners in life as well as in business, as John joined the company to oversee contracts and distribution. As well as making in-roads in the spa sector, Dr Jackson’s opened a concession in Liberty London, was lauded in the pages of Vogue and GQ, and listed with high-end online retailer, Net-A-Porter, with Simon heralded by the press as a “visionary”.

(“I’ve been called worse,” he laughs.)

BATHROOM STAPLE

By 2015, however, having felt they had brought the company as far as they could, John and Simon decided to sell up and move to Schull for a fresh start, renting a former farmhouse on two acres in nearby Lowertown.

“We kind of rocked up here in January 2016 and there was five back-to-back storms and it was crazy,” recalls John of the initial move. “We didn’t know anybody then. But that’s the thing about west Cork, about Schull; people just get to know you in a flash.”

And it was here that the seed was planted – literally - for their next venture.

“We had this plan that we would start a new, accessible kind of product range, a brand that would be very much about botany,” says John of the concept, starting with a unisex, multi-tasking oil made with natural ingredients like flax, chamomile, calendula, borage and arnica, suitable for use on bumps to babies and beyond.

Approaching the local enterprise office in Clonakility, John and Simon received a match-funded grant of €15,000 (€7,500 from LEO and €7,500 from their own funds) to conduct a feasibility study, as well as training and mentoring.

This allowed them to make their first prototype of Modern Botany oil, along with fine-tuning the packaging and design. It also opened the door to securing €50,000 of Competitive Start Fund investment through Enterprise Ireland in return for a 10% stake in the business, which paid for their first batch, made with a contract manufacturer in Co Mayo according to Simon’s expert formulation, with a “leaping bunny” (cruelty-free) certification.

They also impressed Lloyds Pharmacy after presenting their idea at their business clinic, resulting in their first major deal. And today, Modern Botany oil is stocked in 180 shops nationwide with an RRP of €35, and is on the way to becoming “a bathroom staple” for customers ranging from make-up artists to farmers.

“We’ve got women who are pregnant using it on stretch marks, we’ve got women with young kids using it for cradle cap, you’ve got farmers using it for dry hands from working in the field,” lists John.

“And we’re really pleased because that’s exactly what we wanted it to do. We didn’t want a snobby product. We wanted everybody to use it in a utilitarian way: everyday, frequent use.”

AGRI OPPORTUNITY

Other developments include signing with a distributor to target Ireland’s independent pharmacies, the launch of new products including a natural deodorant and exploring export opportunities starting with Germany, having graduated to Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start Up programme. But their plans don’t end there.

While the essential ingredients for Modern Botany oil are currently sourced from overseas, Simon and John hope to encourage Irish farmers to grow alternative crops like flax and chamomile to supply the brand, and have approached Teagasc about the possibility of a feasibility study to support trials, having already conducted a pilot study on their own farm last summer.

“Clonakilty and Skibbereen were a big area for growing flax but are not anymore,” says John. “But one of the things we’re trying to do is introduce people to it again, by asking them: ‘Why don’t you turn over an acre to flax growing, turn over an area for chamomile growing?’”

Indeed, they believe that it won’t just benefit their company, but the Irish agriculture industry by exploring a hitherto untapped international market.

“Ultimately it is a multi-billion euro industry and Ireland is not really involved in it,” says Simon of the beauty and skincare sector, adding that Ireland’s reputation as a “green island” would be a huge selling point as a source of ingredients.

“It makes sense,” he concludes.

And while they have strong international aspirations, they are proud to be based in rural Ireland and to support local services, from An Post for their deliveries to internet provider, Digital Force.

“We actually have better broadband here than we had in Bristol and London,” says Simon, who is also proud to employ local talent, with three full-time and three part-time roles created to date.

“That was our big thing when we started: ‘Where are we going to get a designer? Where are we going to get PR?’ And they’re all here and they’re amazing,” he says.

“We definitely don’t feel isolated running a business.”

Indeed, much in the same way it takes a village to raise a child, it seems that Schull has adopted Modern Botany as its own.

“Our biggest sales basically is in the chemist here in Schull,” smiles Simon.

“The locals have been very supportive and they as a community have become part of the brand as well.”

For further information, visit www.modernbotany.com