Our CEO, James Fearnley, at 80!

29 May 2026

In conversation with James Fearnley

As our CEO of Nature’s Laboratory, James Fearnley, approaches 80 we ask him about his life, what has shaped it and how he sees the future.

“I’ve Always thought there’s a crisis coming, and to get through it we need to learn how to live with each other and in harmony with nature.”

“1968 Changed Everything”

“I started out in quite a traditional way,” James explains. “Public school, then Law at the University of Birmingham. Everyone expected I’d become a barrister.”

But by the late 1960s, something had shifted.

“When I graduated in 1967, a lot of people of my generation were beginning to question everything — politics, authority, education, capitalism, war. It felt like the whole world was waking up.”

Instead of pursuing a legal career, James enrolled at the School of Oriental and African Studies to study West African Law, Anthropology and Religions.

“That was really the turning point,” he says. “1968 was extraordinary. Students were on the streets in Paris, London universities were occupied, people were protesting against the Vietnam War. There was this feeling that society could fundamentally change.”

James became involved in socialist libertarian groups and immersed himself in new thinking around health, education and social organisation.

“Those years opened my mind completely.”

“Thoreau Had a Huge Impact on Me”

The years after university were about seeking for a true way of living.

“I trained as a Reichian therapist for a while, then started physiotherapy training after I couldn’t get into medical school,” James recalls. “I wanted to be a healer in the truest sense of the word.”

A major influence came through the writings of Henry David Thoreau.

“When I read Walden, it struck me deeply. Here was someone talking about simplicity, self-sufficiency, questioning society and reconnecting with nature. It resonated with me on a deep level.”

Inspired by Thoreau’s philosophy, James and his family moved to rural Suffolk in 1974.

“I took whatever work I could find. First, I worked on a pig farm, although I struggled with the way animals were treated. Then I became a potter’s assistant, and eventually I set up my own pottery — The Homestead Pottery.”

“For 10 years I earned a living by my hands – making and selling my own pottery. There is something very therapeutic about working with your hands, whether it be pottery, spinning ,weaving, or other arts and crafts.”

“Community Was Always Central”

Life in Suffolk was about self-sufficiency and community living.

“I became very interested in how people could support each other outside conventional systems,” James explains. “That led to starting groups like Mid Waveney Smallholders and Children First.”

These organisations brought together people interested in home education, sustainable food production and cooperative living.

“We’d organise markets, share skills, hold ceilidhs and social gatherings. There was a real sense that community mattered.”

That same philosophy would later influence his approach to business.

“Coming to Whitby”

James’s interest in the ideas of Rudolf Steiner eventually brought him to Whitby and the nearby Camphill community at Botton Village.

“There was something very special happening there — an attempt to create a more holistic way of living and learning.”

In Whitby, James opened “The Mustard Seed,” a vegetarian café, restaurant and wholefood shop.

“It wasn’t just a business,” he says. “It was a place for conversations and ideas. Health, spirituality, food, education — all those things connected.”

Soon after, he founded COMMONBOX, a cooperative network of small businesses.

“We had over 100 businesses involved at one stage. No membership fees — people simply contributed what they could into a wooden box. The idea was simple: if people genuinely connect with each other, they naturally support each other’s businesses.”

“Discovering Propolis Changed My Life”

In 1990, James encountered propolis for the first time.

“I was fascinated immediately,” he says. “Here was this remarkable substance made by bees from plant resins to protect the hive from infection — and humans had been using it medicinally for thousands of years.”

James immersed himself in research, founding the Propolis Information Bureau and gathering scientific studies from around the world.

“The more I learned, the more extraordinary it seemed. Antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, immune-supporting — propolis had huge potential.”

That interest soon evolved into Bee Health, one of the UK’s first major propolis companies.

“One moment that changed everything was when a journalist from The Sun tried propolis for asthma and wrote about it. Suddenly the phones wouldn’t stop ringing.”

“Losing the Business – a disaster that became a blessing”

Despite the company’s success, James faced a major setback in 1997 when he was forced out of the business he had helped create.

But rather than walk away, he started again.

He joined Herbal Apothecary, and at the same time, was determined to build scientific credibility around propolis.

In 2001 he published Bee Propolis – Natural Healing from the Hive.

Then came the launch of Nature’s Laboratory in 2002.

“That was really about bringing together science, sustainability and natural medicine under one roof.”

Out of seeming disaster came the seeds of purpose and a life with mission and true purpose.

“Bees Still Have So Much to Teach Us”

Over the following decades, James helped establish BeeVital as a global leader in propolis research.

Collaborations with the University of Strathclyde and other UK and international universities produced dozens of scientific papers exploring the medicinal properties of propolis.

One of the most exciting discoveries, James says, was understanding “geographic medicine.”

“We realised that bees in different environments create different forms of propolis depending on the local health challenges. In tropical areas, for example, propolis may contain compounds active against diseases like sleeping sickness.”

That insight led to initiatives such as BeePharma Africa and the International Propolis Research Group.

“We wanted to create a business which included a significant element of research and education. Our manufacturing unit in Whitby contains a laboratory and we are dedicated to quality and research excellence.”

The metacrisis & going forward

James has always seen money as a form of love- it provides the opportunity to do something good in the world. However, at the moment he sees the lop-sided weight that money holds in the world, where social, cultural & environmental imperatives are subdued in favour of profit. He wants to promote a world where each of these are in balance. His company, Nature’s Laboratory, provides significant financial support to Common Cause, a not- for profit community interest company which runs The Dispensary, a health shop and event hub in Whitby. He wanted to support and facilitate health in the community, through people having access to good quality, healthy foods, remedies, supplements, household products and much more. In order to make this more accessible, a dividend scheme is in place, giving all members 5% dividend on any purchases. Through a wider team, The Dispensary also hosts free soup & sourdough lunches and free social events such as a Book Club, all with the intention of bringing people together.

James comes back to the first statement of this interview; “I’ve always thought there’s a crisis coming and that we need to learn how to live with each other and in harmony with nature. I began a PhD at the University of York last year and my belief that there is a metacrisis; a breakdown in all areas of life led me to focus on this as my thesis.”

"I believe that by finding the calm space and truth within ourselves we can experience what wishes to be in the flow of the universe and move with that flow, not against it.There is a change coming, very many aspects of life are under stress. This can be seen as a disaster, or as an opportunity to metamorphose. When a caterpillar becomes a chrysalis there are fundamental cells within it called imaginal cells which hold the blueprint for the butterfly. I believe we can be those imaginal cells for the future. All may seem dark but we can still emerge into a new and evolved state, where kindness, compassion and working for the other is the truth we hold going forward."