Grandfather, 63, sells bee business he started in council house for £100million 

‘Uneducated’ British grandfather, 63, sells bee business for £100MILLION to a US company after starting it from the kitchen table of his council house

  • Steve Ryan, 63, has sold bee business he started at home for more than £100m
  • Grandfather can now ‘afford an island in Bahamas and a Falcon private jet’
  • He started his bee product company in 1992 with his late wife Bea Ryan
  • Asked how it feels to be multi-millionaire, he laughed: ‘No bloody different’ 

An ‘uneducated’ grandfather-of-five has sold a bee business he started from the kitchen table of his council house for more than £100million.  

Steve Ryan, 63, said his obsession with ‘fascinating honeybees’ has now made him a multi-millionaire after selling Bee Health to INW, based in Dallas.

Mr Ryan told the Mirror that he can now afford an island in the Bahamas and a Falcon private jet, but refused to disclose the exact figure the company sold for. 

However, the Bridlington bee expert said was able to do the deal despite Covid-19 restrictions on travel because the Government allows CEOs to go overseas to strike business deals if they are in excess of £100million. 

Asked how it feels to be a multi-millionaire, he laughed: ‘No bloody different.’

Bee Health, which supplies products to Holland & Barrett, has been ranked in the top 200 of Britain's companies with fastest-growing global sales

Grandfather-of-five Steve Ryan, 63, said his obsession with ‘fascinating honeybees’ has now made him a multi-millionaire after selling Bee Health to INW, based in Dallas

Mr Ryan started his bee product company in 1992 with his late wife Bea Ryan after being introduced to bees while picking sprouts in his previous job. 

Working initially from the council house when bought when he was 25, he soon opened a honey farm tourist attraction in Scarborough and later bought a small factory to start producing goods to sell. 

Bee Health, which supplies products to Holland & Barrett, has been ranked in the top 200 of Britain’s companies with fastest-growing global sales.

He told the Mirror that the pandemic ‘doubled’ the manufacture of vitamins, which he estimated at 50million Vitamin D tablets every two weeks.  

Mr Ryan started his bee product company in 1992 with his late wife Bea Ryan after being introduced to bees while picking sprouts in his previous job. Stock image used

Mr Ryan started his bee product company in 1992 with his late wife Bea Ryan after being introduced to bees while picking sprouts in his previous job. Stock image used

The factory in Bridlington is remaining with the same 360 staff, Mr Ryan said, including his 26-year-old son, Lewis Ryan, the chief executive. 

‘My bank manager said what is the first thing I’m going to buy,’ he told the paper. ‘But I don’t need anything. I’ve got everything. I’ve got six race horses.

‘But I will be on an island in Asia in December until February. […] From being an uneducated person it’s just sheer hard graft and taking a gamble.’ 

Mr Ryan, a father-of-four with five grandchildren, added that he is now going to do voluntary work and plans to mentor young businesspeople.