The Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Body Doctor Ltd, Sue Grant, has been presented with an MBE at Windsor Castle for Services to Entrepreneurship. The prestigious award was announced in the King’s Birthday Honours and was presented by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.
Sue was the only award recipient for entrepreneurship at the ceremony. “It was amazing to have access to the inside of Windsor Castle and to see the artifacts and paintings that you don’t usually see,” she said.
Entrepreneur Sue and her two sons, Adam and Sam Wymer, founded The Body Doctor Ltd in 2012, with her youngest son Alexander Grant joining the company in 2022. The family-run business behind the Eye Doctor range of eye drops, eyelid wipes and compresses won the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2016 and again in 2021.
The Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Body Doctor Ltd, Sue Grant with her sons, Alexander Grant, Key Account Manager, left, and Sam Wymer, Sales and Marketing Director, right, outside Windsor Castle.
“It’s such an honour to be awarded an MBE after almost 30 years of working with microwavable hot compresses, a concept that was not available in the UK at the time,” said Sue. “It’s incredible to think that I came back from New Zealand in 1996 with my two young sons and having to make a living, I formed the Natural Wheat Bag Company.”
The Natural Wheat Bag Company Ltd was based in Emley, West Yorkshire, and grew into a £1.8m turnover business, with customers including House of Fraser, the National Trust, John Lewis, Virgin and the QVC shopping channel. The company won a raft of business awards, one of which resulted in being invited to Downing Street to meet the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Sue was in the national finals of the Top 10 Women in Business Awards. The success culminated in the company winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2004 and a personal visit from Prince Andrew. This exposure led to Sue subsequently co-inventing the EyeBag compress.
“Receiving the MBE was a pinch me moment and is still difficult to believe,” said Sue. “It was really special and I know my mum and dad would have been blown away. I reminded Princess Anne that we met in 2004 when she told me that her horse had eaten some of the wheat bags I had sent, she threw her head back and laughed out loud and said she still had one left! When I moved on, one of the assistants said it looked like we both had had a good time.
“The pomp and ceremony was unbelievable with so many people involved. I can’t believe that my descendants can now book St Paul’s Cathedral for a wedding or christening. I keep looking at the medal in disbelief but will eventually get it framed and hang it on the wall.”
The Body Doctor Ltd employs over 30 people and is backed by science and supported by experts in the ophthalmic and medical fields, including TV’s Dr Hilary Jones.
The company achieved a major milestone when a patent was granted for the antibacterial shield Sterileyes, which is clinically proven to reduce bacteria by 99.9% and is an integral component of the Eye Doctor hot and cold compresses.
The granting of the patent followed five years of research and development with three independent laboratories and was a major boost for the company which continues to expand.
