Moss Nook Honey

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Moss Nook Honey

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Moss Nook Honey

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Enterprise Scholarships

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Beekeeping seems an unlikely way of making a living, but it’s absolutely flown for Spark Enterprise Scholar Harry Simpson.

Moss Nook Honey is now fast approaching a turnover of million pounds a year for 21 year-old Harry, a University of Leeds graduate.

Support from Spark

In his first year of studying for a BSc degree in Economics, Harry saw a notice on Minerva about the Business Plan Competition that offered a £1,000 prize.

He got through to the second round and although he didn’t win anything, he was advised to apply for a Spark Enterprise Scholarship.

He did just that the following year and won £3,000, enabling him to buy stock and build a professional and engaging website that proved instrumental to his business.

I was trading on Ebay,” said Harry, “but having my own website was a much better solution. Besides the money I found it really helpful having my own office space at Nexus, enabling me to build my business alongside my studies.

I also made great contacts with like-minded people and learnt a lot from them. I got some good advice on a whole range of matters.

As part of the scholarship, I did a two-day course, picking up knowledge on legal and HR matters as well as learning business acumen. It was well worth it.

I always wanted to have my own business. I had the entrepreneurial spirit from a young age – selling free range eggs at the age of eight. I tried to get into investment banking in my last year of university but am much happier having my own business now.”

Creating Moss Nook Honey

Harry started Moss Nook Honey in 2019 which is a one-stop shop for honey. He also sells all types of equipment including hives, tools, honey extraction equipment and suits for those wanting to get into beekeeping.

Harry has hit the sweet spot by constructing affordable beehives for people to take up the hobby without breaking the bank. He sells fully constructed hives with assembled frames as well as flat packed hives to suit all tastes. He can also provide different sized colonies of bees.

In addition, he offers commercial farmers across the country the opportunity to use his beehives to help pollinate their crops, allowing them to gain a higher yield of up to 25%.

He has sought to make beekeeping as easy as possible and offers free advice whenever he can to bolster the UK’s bee population.

Going global

Harry took over another company called Simon The Beekeeper this year and is going global – selling across Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and now wants to set up in America.

He even sells honey to Greece – a bit like selling ice to eskimos. Quite an achievement really.