“Receiving the MBE was a pinch-me moment”

The co-founder and managing director of The Body Doctor, Sue Grant, has been presented with an MBE at Windsor Castle for services to entrepreneurship.

The award, which was announced in the King’s Birthday Honours, was presented by Her Royal Highness, Anne, the Princess Royal.

The Body Doctor was founded in 2012 by Grant and her two sons, Adam and Sam Wymer, with her youngest son, Alexander Grant, joining the company in 2022.

The provider of eye drops, eyelid wipes and compresses has since won the Queen’s Award for Innovation twice.

“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,” Grant said.

“Receiving the MBE was a pinch-me moment and is still difficult to believe. It was really special and I know my mum and dad would have been blown away,” Grant added.

The business owner was the only award-recipient for entrepreneurship at the ceremony.

Describing the event, Grant said: “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.”

Grant launched her previous business, the Natural Wheat Bag Company in 1996, on her return from New Zealand with her two young sons. The company grew into a business with a £1.8 million turnover and won a number of awards, culminating in the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2004.

She shared: “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.”

Reflecting on the experience, Grant added: “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,” she added.

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