Kate's enjoying the sweet smell of success

Kate Horton has seen it all in her business journey – from creating hand sanitiser during the height of Covid to now working with celebrities on perfumes and luxury products.

At 35, she is technical director at Group55 in Chorley, a role that places her at the heart of innovation in the personal care and cosmetics industry.

However, it could have been so different as she wanted to be a Crime Scene Investigator, changing course in the second year of her university course after the Forensic Science Service was privatised.

She says: “There were a lot fewer places you could go and work. I hadn’t even thought of cosmetics, but because the degree was so chemistry-based, it opened doors.”

She was given the chance of a lifetime by Group55 chairman Steve Turner to create her own lab and build a manufacturing facility.

She says: “Steve sold me a dream, and I joined on a whim – it was a pretty good whim!”

A defining moment for Kate came in 2020 during the pandemic. She says: “Hand gel and sanitiser were massive. I created, in record time, a moisturising hand sanitiser that didn’t dry your skin.

“It was distributed to the Ministry of Justice, the NHS, and industry. It supported our business and ensured we stayed on track. It also felt great helping people. We felt we had a duty of care.”

Kate was nominated in 2020 for Lancashire Business View’s Sub36 ‘Made in Lancashire’ award by colleagues for driving Group55
forwards and her role in the pandemic.

She has vivid memories of winning the award, with the ceremony being streamed because of the Covid restrictions that were in place.

She says: “I was at my desk watching the ceremony when I heard shouting and cheering from colleagues upstairs – they saw the result before me because of the delay on the live stream!”

Kate says the award boosted her confidence and career. “It showed I was a leader. It helped my progression.”

Kate now sits on the leadership board at Group55 and makes strategic decisions. She says: “I was 27 when I joined – you don’t get offered that kind of opportunity often as a young chemist. Eight and a half years on, what we’ve achieved is insane.”

She adds: “I can’t see myself away from here. I want to keep developing the business.

“You have to adapt in this industry – it’s ever-changing. Working with big names and brands is the next step up.”

Kate’s success is even more remarkable given her early struggles and she is now is trying to help young generations.

She explains: “I’m dyslexic, so when I was in lower school and high school, I was kind of written off as being a nice girl but not very smart.

“It wasn’t the school’s fault – it was just one of those things and I’ve proved them wrong.

"I go into colleges and primary schools and show them what I do. They see a scientist who is female.

“It’s about influencing students who might feel written off – telling them ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be absolutely fine’.

“When you do science at school, it’s a Bunsen burner or dissecting a heart. But when they realise this is how you make shampoo and fake tans – and it’s made just around the corner in Lancashire – it changes everything.”

Kate, who used to play football for Fleetwood Town Ladies, has advice for young business professionals, telling them to ‘believe in yourself and your own power’.

She now enjoys spending her spare time chasing her two-and-a-half-year-old son Lucas and pretending to be dinosaurs.

Group55 now works with celebrities and influencers on cosmetic brands.

Kate can’t reveal names but says it is “ridiculous to have their phone numbers and be in WhatsApp groups with them”.

She adds: “You see someone you’ve grown up watching and they come in like they’re your best mate. It’s a reward for all the work we do.”

Kate believes winning a Sub36 award gave her the confidence to hold her own in those conversations.

She says: “You have self-belief when you speak to influencers and celebrities. From a chemistry perspective, you’re believable because you know the ins and outs.”