Meet our Merchants of the Week: Lisa McWilliams and Phil James of HempWell Limited at Petergate
Each week we highlight the independent businesses that make York special.
If you would like to nominate a York merchant, or you may have a local business and want to tell us what makes you special, you can provide more information using this online form:
www.yorkpress.co.uk/trader/
This week’s focus is on HempWell Limited, of High Petergate, York, led by husband and wife team Lisa McWilliams and Phil James. They sell CBD (cannabidiol) products that are said to help with a number of problems such as anxiety, stress, insomnia, chronic pain and arthritis.
Here is their story …
How long has the business been going on?
We started our CBD business in 2017.
Some of HempWell’s CBD products
What are you selling?
We make and sell our own brand of health and wellness products with CBD extracted from hemp plants that we have grown ourselves. This includes dietary supplements such as CBD oil, capsules and pills, as well as topical creams for muscles and joints. We also sell a variety of CBD-infused gifts, such as chocolate truffles, candles, bath pumps, jelly beans, and a skin care line.
Why is this business special?
Our business stands out from the others because we grow our own hemp and make it here in York. We chose which EU certified seeds to plant and which organic farming methods to use and our general manager spent months on the farm growing hemp. Once CBD is extracted from hemp, we manufacture it in our labs at York Science Park and we can proudly say that our natural herbal supplements and wellness products are from Yorkshire. We work with other Yorkshire artisans, including a master chocolate maker to make our CBD chocolate truffles and a candle maker to make our CBD candles poured by hand so we can be truly proud to support other small businesses in the area.
Lisa McWilliams of HempWell
How has it adapted during the Covid-19 crisis?
To accommodate the Covid-19 crisis, we opened our first retail store in High Petergate, near the cathedral, before we only sold online at hempwell.co.uk. CBD is known for its benefits in helping to manage anxiety and during the heyday of the pandemic we had people who showed up at our offices trying to buy CBD! At the time we knew we had to open a shopping space for the people of York to come and get information, taste the products for free, and buy what they needed.
Any prizes?
Yes! We have just learned that we have won the “Best Hemp and CBD Retailer – UK” at the Global Health and Pharma Commercial Cannabis Awards! The results have not yet been officially announced, but we are delighted with this news as it really demonstrates all the hard work we have put in to make the highest quality CBD products in the UK. Our muscle and joint cooling cream was also awarded as one of the “15 Best CBD Pain Products – 2021” by Origym.
What’s your favorite story about this business?
We’re always busy working behind the scenes, so it’s always amazing when a review appears on the website that says our products have helped improve someone’s quality of life. Many people say that it has helped them with their arthritis pain or that it has helped them to sleep or anxiety, but last week we had a review from a lady who said that it had helped her with her postpartum pain. cancer and all members of the group. the office was in tears! It makes everything worthwhile.
Be our next merchant of the week!
If you would like to nominate a York merchant, or you may have a local business and want to tell us what makes you special, you can provide more information using this online form:
www.yorkpress.co.uk/trader/
