A Pontefract entrepreneur is preparing her award-winning skincare business for national growth after support from Made Smarter Yorkshire.
Former banking compliance specialist Tina Harris founded GinGingers after developing a low-energy cold-process manufacturing method that preserves the integrity of natural ingredients while reducing energy consumption by up to 50%.
Her Apple Cider Vinegar Gel won a Silver Innovation Award at the Free From Skincare Awards and is now stocked by Planet Organic.
With support from Made Smarter, Tina created a digital growth strategy and worked alongside a Digital Intern to enhance the company's website, ecommerce and online systems, helping prepare the business for retail expansion, future investment and her long-term ambition of bringing manufacturing and logistics in-house.
"Having someone sit down with you, listen to your ideas and challenge your thinking is invaluable. It's like having another pair of eyes looking over every part of the business. Made Smarter has given me access to expertise that would otherwise have been beyond my reach and the confidence to move the business forward."
Tina Harris, Founder of GinGingers
GinGingers began as a hobby that Tina could share with her daughter during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Seeking a safer and more sustainable alternative to conventional skincare manufacturing, she developed a cold-process formulation using natural ingredients including apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil and witch hazel. Drawing on her compliance background, she worked with York Bioscience and CPI in Newcastle before securing COSMOS Natural and Cruelty Free certifications.
Today, the company's hero product, a gel for blemishes, bites, scalps and feet, is manufactured by a specialist contractor in West Yorkshire.
However, balancing the business with caring responsibilities for her young daughter and both elderly parents left Tina with little time or budget to invest in the digital capability needed to grow.
Working with a Made Smarter adviser, Tina developed a Digital Roadmap which identified the improvements needed to strengthen ecommerce and digital marketing while introducing more streamlined, paperless ways of working to support future growth.
To put those recommendations into practice, GinGingers welcomed Marian Vivek Balavendran, an MSc Digital Marketing Management graduate from Coventry University, through Made Smarter’s Digital Internship programme.
Marian helped rebuild the brand's online presence by improving the website structure, embedding SEO, integrating analytics and introducing clearer performance reporting.
Rather than simply delivering marketing activity, the project established scalable systems and a more structured, data-led approach to growing the business online.
He also enhanced the company's Amazon presence, supported the development of an Etsy shop, introduced content planning and email marketing, and created simple, repeatable processes that Tina could continue using.
Made Smarter also provided ongoing advice, mentoring and access to a wider network of expertise.
The project has strengthened the company's website and online visibility, improved its ecommerce capability and introduced analytics to better understand customer behaviour, measure performance and support future decision making.
It also delivered a structured digital blueprint for the business, with documented processes and reporting systems that will continue to guide future employees, interns and external specialists.
Perhaps most importantly, the work has enabled Tina to spend less time deciding where to focus her efforts and more time making informed decisions, while creating the platform needed to support future retail opportunities and investment.
The progress has also translated into commercial success. GinGingers has secured its first national retail listing with Planet Organic, introducing the brand to a wider customer base beyond its own website and online marketplaces.
Tina said: "The internship has helped bridge a knowledge and skills gap that I simply couldn't have addressed on my own. Marian hasn't just improved the website. He's helped me understand the bigger picture, bringing together areas that previously felt disconnected and creating a clear digital strategy.
"I can now view GinGingers as a complete business rather than just a product."
The internship also provided Marian with valuable commercial experience, enabling him to apply the skills developed during his MSc within a growing manufacturing business.
Marian said: "This placement has allowed me to move beyond theory and take real responsibility inside a growing SME. Seeing those structures take shape inside a live business has been both grounding and motivating."
The work completed through Made Smarter has given Tina the confidence to pursue the next phase of GinGingers' growth.
Alongside expanding the product range and developing new formulations, she plans to strengthen the company's ecommerce capability, grow its retail presence and continue investing in the technology and processes that will support a more efficient and scalable business.
Ultimately, Tina wants GinGingers to purchase new equipment, automate parts of the formulation process and build an advanced manufacturing operation.
She is also looking to develop her digital leadership and strategic skills through Made Smarter's leadership programme.
Tina said: "I want to become investor ready. The investment isn't just about money. It's about accessing knowledge and experience as well.”
