When Molton Brown chief executive Sara Halton wanted to inject fresh life into the 34-year-old brand, she didn’t just talk to the people in new product development. She set up an advisory board – calling in Hip Hotel founder Herbert JM Ypma, interior decorator Andrew Martin and horticulturist Guy Barter, among six other experts.

What could these people contribute to a company most famous for soaps and potions? “I thought it would help us to think differently,” Halton says. “Ideas come out of the most surprising places sometimes.”