2026 Finalists - The English Soap Company
We’re delighted to feature Oliver Butts of The English Soap Company, a finalist in this year’s Gift of the Year Awards with their beautifully crafted Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection.
With over 25 years of heritage, this family-run British brand has built a reputation for creating luxurious soaps and toiletries from their Sussex farm, combining traditional craftsmanship with thoughtful, modern design. Every stage of production is handled in-house, ensuring a level of care and quality that is evident in every detail.
The Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection perfectly captures the brand’s ethos — bringing together a timeless, fresh floral fragrance with elegant, heritage-inspired artwork across a cohesive range of products. Designed to offer a complete and harmonious gifting experience, the collection blends everyday luxury with practicality, making it as thoughtful as it is beautiful.
Company Name: The English Soap Company
Product(s) in the Finalist: Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection
Congratulations on being a finalist! How does it feel to be recognised in this year’s Gift of the Year awards? It is a genuine honour to be recognised as a finalist in this year’s Gift of the Year awards. As a family-run British manufacturer, we take great pride in the care, craftsmanship and creativity that go into every collection we produce, so to see our Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection acknowledged in this way is incredibly rewarding.
This recognition means a great deal to our entire team. From design and fragrance development through to production and finishing, every stage is handled in-house, and it is a reflection of the collective dedication and passion that defines The English Soap Company. It is also particularly meaningful to be recognised by an award that celebrates excellence and innovation within the gifting industry. To be shortlisted alongside so many respected brands is both humbling and motivating as we continue to develop thoughtful, beautifully made products for our customers around the world.
Can you tell us a little about your brand and the inspiration behind your successful product? The English Soap Company is a family-run British brand with over 25 years of heritage, creating beautifully crafted soaps and toiletries from our Sussex farm. Every product is made in-house, allowing us to combine traditional craftsmanship with thoughtful design, ensuring each piece feels both luxurious and considered.
Our Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection is part of our wider Heritage Collection, which was inspired by bringing together two much-loved collections from our past, Vintage and Bath and Body. We wanted to create something more cohesive and intuitive for our customers, uniting familiar designs and fragrances into one harmonious range that feels elegant and easy to shop.
The Lily of the Valley fragrance itself is inspired by the timeless beauty of the English garden. Light, fresh and uplifting, it captures a sense of spring and quiet nostalgia. Paired with delicate, heritage-inspired artwork and a carefully curated range of products, the collection allows customers to enjoy a consistent fragrance across soap, hand care and home fragrance. Ultimately, the collection reflects our desire to create products that are not only beautifully made, but also thoughtfully designed to bring a sense of everyday pleasure, whether enjoyed at home or given as a gift.
What makes your product special, and why do you think it stood out to the judges? What makes the Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection special is the way it brings together fragrance, design and usability in a truly considered way. Rather than being a standalone product, it forms part of a cohesive collection that allows customers to enjoy a much-loved scent across multiple formats, from soap bars to hand care and home fragrance. This consistency creates a more complete and elevated experience, whether for personal use or gifting. We believe it stood out to the judges because it is both thoughtful and practical. It simplifies choice for the customer, brings a sense of harmony across the range, and demonstrates a clear understanding of what makes a gift feel special. It is not only beautifully made, but carefully considered at every stage, which is something we take great pride in.
Who is your product designed for, and what kind of reaction have you had from customers so far? The Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection has been thoughtfully designed for customers who value quality, elegance and a sense of everyday luxury. It appeals to those looking for a meaningful gift, as well as individuals who enjoy creating small moments of care and refinement in their daily routines. With its timeless fragrance and cohesive design, it resonates particularly well with customers who appreciate classic British style, while remaining accessible to a modern audience.
It is also well suited to customers who are increasingly mindful of the materials and choices behind the products they buy. Our soaps are wrapped in recyclable paper and cardboard, and our hand creams are presented in aluminium tubes, offering a more considered alternative to traditional plastic packaging. This allows customers to enjoy a luxurious product while making a more responsible choice. The response so far has been incredibly encouraging. Customers have particularly appreciated the ease of choosing within one unified collection, as well as the ability to enjoy their favourite fragrance across different formats. We have also received positive feedback on the packaging, with many noting how beautifully the products sit together both in the home and as a gift. More broadly, the collection has been recognised for feeling familiar yet refreshed, bringing together elements customers already loved in a way that feels more thoughtful and cohesive. This balance of heritage, practicality and considered design has been key to its success.
What trends or themes do you think are shaping the gifting industry right now? The gifting industry is evolving in thoughtful and meaningful ways, with customers placing greater emphasis on quality, purpose and experience.
One of the most prominent trends is a move towards considered, sustainable gifting. Customers are increasingly aware of materials and packaging, favouring products that reduce plastic use and are made with responsibly sourced ingredients. There is a clear preference for items that feel both beautiful and mindful, where sustainability is integrated into the product rather than added as an afterthought.
There is also a growing appreciation for cohesion and simplicity. Collections that offer a consistent fragrance or design across multiple products are particularly appealing, as they make gifting feel more complete and effortless. Customers are looking for ranges that sit harmoniously together, whether displayed in the home or given as a carefully chosen gift.
Heritage and authenticity continue to play an important role. British-made products, traditional craftsmanship and storytelling rooted in provenance resonate strongly, especially when balanced with a modern sensibility. Customers want to feel a connection to the product, understanding where it comes from and how it has been made.
Finally, gifting is becoming more experience-led. Rather than a single item, customers are drawn to products that create a moment, whether that is a sense of calm, indulgence or everyday luxury. Fragrance, in particular, plays a key role in this, offering both emotional connection and lasting enjoyment.
Together, these trends reflect a shift towards more thoughtful purchasing, where quality, responsibility and meaning are just as important as appearance.
How has being shortlisted, and now being a finalist impacted your brand so far, and what do you hope to achieve from the awards? Being shortlisted and now named as a finalist, has been a very positive moment for the brand. It provides a valuable opportunity to showcase the Heritage Lily of the Valley Collection to a wider audience and reinforces the care and thought that has gone into its development. Recognition at this level also brings a sense of pride to our team, as it reflects the collective effort across design, production and finishing that defines how we work.
It has already helped to strengthen awareness of both the collection and The English Soap Company more broadly, particularly within the gifting industry. Moments like this allow us to connect with new customers and partners, while also reaffirming confidence among our existing stockists and loyal customer base.
From the awards, we hope to continue building on that momentum. Whether through increased visibility, new relationships or further opportunities to share our story, our aim is to keep growing in a considered and sustainable way. Above all, we see this as a chance to celebrate British craftsmanship, thoughtful product design and the values that sit at the heart of our business.
What exciting plans do you have for the future? We have a number of exciting plans for the future, all centred around growing the brand in a considered and sustainable way while staying true to our heritage.
A key focus for us is continued product development. We are always exploring new fragrances, formats and collections, ensuring we offer our customers fresh, inspiring choices while maintaining the quality and craftsmanship they expect from The English Soap Company. Building on the success of the Heritage Collection, we will continue to refine and expand ranges that bring greater cohesion and ease to gifting.
International growth also remains an important part of our journey. With strong demand for British-made products, we are working to strengthen existing partnerships and carefully expand into new markets, sharing our collections with a wider global audience.
Alongside this, we are investing in our operations and sustainability efforts. From improving production capabilities at our Sussex site to continuing to evolve our packaging choices, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact while maintaining the high standards our customers value.
Ultimately, our ambition is to keep creating beautifully made products that feel thoughtful, reliable and a pleasure to give or receive, while building a brand that is respected for its quality, integrity and long-term vision.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received (or given), and why? The best gift I’ve ever given was a vintage O Gauge Hornby/Meccano No.1 early clockwork tank locomotive in Great Western livery for my dad. It was something he had as a child, so receiving it again brought back powerful memories and a real sense of nostalgia. What made it especially meaningful to me was that it was the first present I’d ever bought with my own pay check, so it represented not just a connection to his past, but also a personal milestone in my own journey. It felt like a moment where I could give something truly thoughtful, with both emotional and personal significance that also gave my dad real joy and showed just how deeply I cared about him.
