I (Harry) met Marcus on the first day at Eton. But with Marcus being very sporty and me more musical, we didn’t really become good friends until we were in the same Psychology class in the 6th form and often found ourselves talking about business ideas rather than academic matters. After that I went to Oxford to read Psychology while Marcus went to Edinburgh to read Politics. We remained good friends and continued to think about possible business ventures. Then one day Marcus told me he was looking at a new type of water, that claimed to be more hydrating, and asked me for advice. I wasn’t sold on the idea but whilst we were examining it, we thought about the drinks we liked. And one day we asked each other, why is it that if I want to wake up, I have to drink an unhealthy energy drink, full of sugar and artificial stuff? Couldn’t we make a natural, healthy and effective drink that did that? So we looked at homeopathy, ayurvedic medicine and various other natural medicines, and concluded that herbal medicine was the most suitable, because there was the clearest scientific evidence for effectiveness, and herbs could be put into a drink and be palatable and still be effective. We met a large number of herbalists and found two that were truly exceptional: Michael McIntyre and Andrew Chevallier had both been president of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. Michael is an expert in Chinese and Eastern herbal medicine, whilst Andrew is more of a Western herbalist, with a more medical outlook. We decided to work with them both, asking each of them to review and improve each other’s formulae. We found a fantastic source of herbal extracts: a company in East Anglia that sources the very best herbal ingredients from across the world. Many of our herbs are still gathered by local people (rather than farmed) in Europe and Asia. They are then crushed and extracted into a tincture, which is mixed with the fruit juices to make the drinks. Then we looked at the other natural products available, and asked ourselves why we never bought them. And we realised it was because they were all in drab green and brown cartons, with very worthy names that made us feel they weren’t for us. We felt there was no reason why a natural, healthy product couldn’t be packaged in a stylish, modern way. What’s more, our drink wasn’t just about healthy and natural – it was about effectiveness and getting the most out of life – and that meant looking good as well as making you feel good... We’ve been doing Firefly Tonics for 3 years now. Our company has 7 people at the moment : 2 getting the drinks made, 2 visiting customers, 1 doing marketing, and Marcus and I doing a bit of everything. We’ve never had big marketing budgets, so we’ve had to get out ourselves and tell people about Firefly. So, for example, this Summer we cycled round London giving out Firefly from trailers that we towed behind the bikes. We also give out samples at stores like Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, because we find that once people have tried Firefly, they like it and they buy it again. And we get asked for free bottles of Firefly by many of London’s trendiest events (celebrity parties, charity balls, art gallery openings, etc.), and we find this is a good way to introduce more people to our drinks. And finally, we keep in touch with our customers, with regular newsletters to people that sign up on our website, and we keep in touch with journalists, who seem to keep finding something to write about us! We also marketed Firefly to some other countries too. (about 23, I think) We know we’re not the experts at overseas markets, so we leave things up to our international distributors. This means we have to be really careful about how we select them. We’ve always looked for people who share our values: people that want to get the most out of life, like to work hard and play hard, and have lots of ambition and self-belief. They’re an incredible group of people, and we’ve learned a lot of tips from them that we’ve brought back to the UK. At the moment, our largest market outside the UK is Scandinavia. Firefly is now one of the most popular drinks in Copenhagen, and is growing rapidly in Norway and Sweden too. To me, Firefly has become more than just a drink to us. I remembered that day when we were invited to Number 11 Downing Street to meet Gordon Brown. And the best moment was when I spotted one of the singers from the Kaiser Chiefs, whose big hit “I Predict A Riot” was a favourite of mine: I was about to walk up and say hi, when Nick, the drummer, spotted me and said “You’re Harry from Firefly. I’ve been dying to meet you guys – I love your drinks”! So we went to their gig that evening and took some cases of drinks into their dressing room. London has something for everyone. It’s full of incredible people doing incredible things. There’s more going on in a single day in London than happens in a month in most cities. I love the way London is so accessible: the parks, the museums, the galleries, the markets are all free, and therefore attract a wide mix of people. Name any nationality, and there will be a large community in London. Most of them we’re not even aware of: everyone knows there’s a French community in South Kensington and an Australian community in Earls Court, but did you know there’s a big Swedish community North of Marylebone? London is a massive melting pot of young, dynamic people, a place you can make as much or as little of as you like. And I love it.