involved in it. Coming to that realisation – and explaining it to others who expect rapid expansion – was something we had to work through, but it has ultimately helped us stay focused on what matters most to us. Tell us about your product offering. Parkminster specialises in natural home fragrance products, including handpoured soy wax candles, reed diffusers, room mists, and bath products. Everything is created in our own fragrance workshop in Cornwall using plant-based soy wax, essential oils and carefully chosen ingredients. We blend our own scents inhouse and currently offer a large library of unique fragrances designed to create a calm and welcoming atmosphere at home. What are your most popular products? Our scented candles and reed diffusers are consistently the most popular products. In particular, our large votive candles, Apothecary Reed Diffusers and Regency Collection, as well as our signature fragrance blends, have become favourites among both customers and stockists. These products reflect the core of what we do – natural ingredients, thoughtful scent combinations and a handcrafted finish. Have any styles taken you by surprise with their popularity? We wouldn’t say we’ve been surprised, but we have been very pleased to see how much people value the strength of design within some of our collections. In particular, our Regency Collection – with its deep green glass, black packaging and distinctive gold shield labels – has developed a very loyal following. Customers seem to really appreciate the sense of heritage and elegance that the design brings to a room. Our Apothecary Reed Diffusers have also been extremely well received. They’re housed in handmade glassware inspired by traditional science laboratory vessels, which gives them a slightly unusual and characterful look. It’s wonderful to see that customers enjoy these thoughtful design details just as much as the fragrances themselves. How do you keep your designs fresh and current? Do you follow trends? We tend not to chase short-term trends. Instead, we focus on creating timeless fragrances inspired by nature, the seasons and everyday life – gardens, woodlands, herbs and coastal landscapes. By keeping our approach grounded and authentic, our products stay relevant without needing to constantly reinvent themselves. We rebranded in 2025 but that was to double down on the contents of the product itself rather than follow any design trends that may be irrelevant in years to come. What sets you apart from your competitors? What truly sets Parkminster apart is our ‘made-to-order’ approach combined with our ‘fragrance-first’ ethos. Every candle or fragrance product purchased from our website is created completely fresh, by hand, and individually – no batch-making, no mass production. We don’t simply use pre-made fragrances from large suppliers, as many candle companies do. Instead, we hand-blend each fragrance in-house in our fragrance workshop, carefully measuring the exact amount of ingredients for every product before combining it with our soy wax or natural diffuser bases. Each item is made specifically for the person who ordered it, and we celebrate that personal touch by adding their name and the date of creation to the label. For our stockists around the world, we follow the same principle. Every product carries the name of the shop that supplied it, so that when it arrives in someone’s home, it serves as a reminder of the lovely independent store where it was purchased. This highly personal, hands-on, fragrance-first approach – making every product individually, by hand, and to order – is something our customers and stockists truly value and sets us apart in the market. 27 COMPANY PROFILE
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