The Body Doctor co-founder awarded MBE

Sue Grant, the co-founder and managing director of The Body Doctor, has been awarded an MBE for Services to Entrepreneurship in the King’s Birthday Honours.

The Body Doctor, the company behind the Eye Doctor range, was founded in 2012 by Grant along with her two sons, Adam and Sam Wymer. Her youngest son, Alexander, joined the business in 2022.

Reacting to the news, Grant said: “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.”

She continued: “It’s incredible to think that I came back from New Zealand in 1996 with my two young sons and having to make a living, I formed the Natural Wheat Bag Company.”

The Natural Wheat Bag Company was based in West Yorkshire and grew into a £1.8m turnover business, winning a number of business awards culminating in the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2004.

The level of exposure gained in this time led to the co-invention of the EyeBag compress, with Grant explaining: “I had been producing eye compresses since 1996 but this was my first introduction to its use in optics and eventually led to the creation of The Eye Doctor product.”

Grant will be presented with her MBE at Buckingham Place later this year. She said: “It’s fabulous to be recognised with an MBE after all these years.”

The Body Doctor employes more than 30 people and won the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2016 and 2021.

The company recently bought additional premises for its sales and marketing team across the road from its production base as it continues to expand.