The Yorkshire Soap Company reveals plans to open new store - but the location is still a secret

The temptation to pick up the confectionary-styled soaps is too much and the smell is oh so delicious during this aromatic and mouth-watering tour of one of The Yorkshire Soap Company’s quintessentially-styled emporiums.

Fish in a bag – one of their most popular products – an aquatic toy encased in a hand-crafted mango and glycerine soap – nods back to the funfair nostalgia and is among the many artistically hand-crafted products associated with this luxury bath and body brand.

For some customers it is a trip down memory lane, while for others it’s a playful insight into the past.

“Out of all the beautiful things we sell more of those in a year than anything else,” says Marcus Doyle, one of the masterminds behind this rapidly expanding company.

“It’s nostalgia and it is a gift for everybody. It takes you back to your youth. Grandparents can buy them and show them to their grandchildren and talk about buying a goldfish in a bag of water.”

For Marcus, and partner Warren Booth, the staging for every one of their shops is as important as the products they sell.

“We are putting on a show. Every shop we do we try and make the show bigger and better. We just want people to leave happy,” he says.

Beneath twinkling chandeliers glitter-sprinkled cupcake soaps topped with the brand’s signature rosebuds are among sweet-scented treats elegantly arranged around a carefully orchestrated showcase.

Images of each shop front – documenting the journey so far – along with one of their proudest moments – a visit by the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III – occupy the walls.

Traditional soap bars, infused with fruit, bring an eclectic twist to sumptuous treats carried away in a cake style gift box.

It is all part of the attentive service customers come to expect throughout the brand’s 10 shops – and counting.

The conversation turns to potential plans to set up shop in another location - the secret is, of course, safe for now.

Whenever the announcement is made, it will be timely for next year is the 20th anniversary since The Yorkshire Soap Company opened for business.

Launched on the back of an initial business Marcus and Warren were running for a family member in Hebden Bridge, the brand’s growth has been as carefully curated as the hand-crafted products they create.

What began as a kitchen table top production in their then Leeds home soon upscaled to a dedicated soap kitchen in a room-above the Hebden Bridge premises.

From there the Yorkshire Soap Company organically grew at a manageable pace, maintaining the calibre of the staging in each shop and the quality of the luxurious products sold.

Researching the market and, more importantly, the trends led them to the confectionary theme. Interestingly, their previous professions proved to be a harmonious blend for the brand.

Marcus’ catering background comes in handy for the soap concoctions, while Warren’s experience in high end retail dovetails perfectly with the brand’s design and development.

In the beginning they were riding the crest of a cupcake tidal wave.

"It was the zeitgeist, the world was full of cupcakes hand-made locally. We followed the trend,” says Marcus.

Seventy per cent of what they sell throughout their shops in Beverley, Hebden Bridge, Ilkley, Halifax, Harrogate, Leeds and York is still made in their kitchen.

No longer above the shop, this full-scale manufacturing operation occupies a 6,000 square foot warehouse in Elvington close to their home city of York.

Marcus recalls when they first staked their place in the Medieval city.

“In 2012 we signed the lease for our shop - 3,000 square foot in the centre of York. It was the scariest thing to do. We were masters of our own destiny - we really never dreamed we would have more than two shops,” says Warren.

“But as the business became more popular we realised we had a brand and the potential to grow.”

York offered more space to play with, and, a year after launching the Yorkshire Soap Company there they opened their first interior brand, ‘Imaginarium,’ next door.

They’d already dipped their toes into the interiors market in Hebden Bridge.

“We knew what people liked and we knew we were good at selling gift-led interiors. We travel a lot and see things in shop windows you haven’t seen in the UK. That is why we created the Imaginarium,” explains Marcus.

Their first foray into the dark side came from the development of their latest brand. The Society of Alchemists is in contrast to the Yorkshire Soap Company’s signature style.

Customers are drawn from one extreme to another into a den-like darkness. Fear not though, the brand’s elaborate staging has not been lost on their latest venture.

Feature walls, fashioned like opening and closing drawers, are part of the illusion. Expect the magical and mythical - and for all eyes to be upon you. To quote the adage ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ is a clue.

Seeing is believing after all. Imaginations, and senses, are aromatically stoked with Signature and Celestial collections.

Candles, diffusers, fragrances and perfumes fill this elaborately decorated space. The characteristics of York’s quirky cobbled Shambles was a natural destination for their first dabble when The Society of Alchemists launched there in 2022.

“We wanted it to be a contrast to the Yorkshire Soap Company. We wanted it to stand alone and a lot of it came out of necessity,” says Marcus.

The necessity came from wanting to set up a different-from-the-norm gift shop.

It also found a home for some of Marcus’ accumulations – the beautiful Victorian furniture and props occupying 1,000 square foot of storage space.

“We have a beautiful Wish Dragon which tells the story. It is the most theatrical shop we have ever done. It is fragrance-led and a mix between The Yorkshire Soap Company and the Imaginarium.

"We wanted to do something which was us. I am 51, Warren is 50, and we wanted to hark back to the nostalgia, the puppet movies, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Never Ending Story. It is telling a story and it has been a huge success.”

Tried and successfully tested, The Society of Alchemists launched in Halifax this year.

For Marcus and Warren the town’s historic Piece Hall, a former textile trading centre, sympathetically restored into a successful concert and retail destination, was familiar territory.

Their successful staging, and keen eye for design here and in their other shops, led to their input for Channel 4’s Our Yorkshire Shop – A Victorian Restoration.

The series follows the ambitions of a community in Masham to restore a derelict building into ‘Peacock and Verity’ showcasing some of its previous uses as a grocer’s and tearoom.

The opportunity to participate was a timely distraction as Warren had just lost his beloved mum, Brenda, a keen supporter of their business.

They created some bespoke soaps for the programme and even got involved in helping to dress the shop.

And they got behind fundraising efforts to help back the project with a minimum of 50p for each bar of the soaps created for the show donated to the Masham Parish Community

“We had a great time,” says Warren. Those words sum up their journey so far.

“It has been an amazing experience with lots of responsibility, but we thrive on it. It is our passion, our joy and we are proud of it.”

yorkshiresoap.co.uk

Marcus and Warren appear in Our Yorkshire Shop – A Victorian Restoration on Channel 4 on June 29 at 8pm.