The couple behind Cumbria’s first CBD cafe have branched out and are now creating bubble bath.
Nic Hewitt and Luke Woodend opened West Lakes Hemp in August last year in Cleator Moor and it has been a huge hit – but the pair always have had plans to grow.
Nic said: “We always planned to grow and expand into manufacturing, and with the world coming to a standstill and the potential challenges we would be facing as a business, we were either going to make it or break it. Ask me again in 12 months and I’ll tell you if we’ve made it!
“I had loads of friends and family working on the frontline during the pandemic; nurses, paramedics, security guards, carers, and I just wanted to try and do something to help.
“So, I put together some CBD care packages and delivered them to several local frontline key workers, including West Cumberland Hospital and Calderwood House in Egremont.
“I infused hand cream, lotions, balms, and bubble bath with CBD to help with the healing of dried hands from constant hand-sanitiser use, sores from facemasks and the bubble bath to help with aches and pains.
“We got great feedback on all the products, but the bubble bath was by far the biggest hit and people were crying out for it to be available to buy. So, with a new lab in the making we decided to make CBD bubble bath our first official, certified product that we would manufacture in-house.
“The research and development took around two-and-a-half years because we were learning from scratch, but we are now the proud manufacturers of the Bud Suds CBD bubble bath range. It is officially the UK’s first high strength CBD bubble bath.”
Luke added: “From day one, the purpose of starting this business was to help people. We only got into it because Nic was benefitting massively from CBD but had to wade through a lot of poor products online before finding good ones. There was nowhere local to go to for advice.
“Our main goal was to tackle the stigma around hemp and cannabis while also providing the highest quality products that are legally available in the UK. And that is exactly what this range of bubble baths are designed to do.”
