Amanda Connock, founder of Connock England, discusses the brand’s fragrance heritage, its new hotel amenities collection and why scent, sustainability and thoughtful design can turn everyday toiletries into a memorable part of the guest experience.
For readers discovering Connock England for the first time, could you introduce the brand and its story – what inspired its creation, and what principles have shaped its approach to luxury fragrance, bath and body products?
Connock England is a British fragrance and beauty brand built on deep-rooted industry knowledge. My family has been at the heart of the global fragrance and cosmetic ingredients world for more than 50 years through A & E Connock, supplying leading beauty and fragrance houses around the world. That heritage, together with decades of formulation expertise and long-standing supplier relationships, shapes the way we approach everything we create.
Fragrance has always been central to Connock, but equally important is what sits behind it: ingredient quality, formulation and provenance. Our relationships let us work close to source, giving us real visibility over quality and traceability. A more direct supply chain also means we can invest where it matters most – fragrance, ingredients and formulation – while offering genuine value to our partners.
Our products are made and manufactured in the UK, and we source locally wherever it makes sense to. Ultimately, we want everything we create to feel considered and pleasurable to use.
You are now launching a new amenities collection for the hotel sector. What was the thinking behind the collection, and how have you translated the wider Connock England brand into an offering designed specifically for hotels and their guests?
We wanted to take everything that matters to Connock – fragrance, ingredient quality, formulation expertise, presentation – and translate it properly for hospitality.
Working closely with hospitality teams gave us a clear picture of the balance hotels need. The experience has to feel memorable for the guest, while behind the scenes the collection needs to be practical and straightforward for housekeeping and operations teams to manage every day.
That thinking runs through the whole collection: three fragrance choices – Kukui, Verdant and Pelago – each available in 300ml refillable, recyclable bottles with 5 litre refill options, plus a range of presentation choices so properties have flexibility both aesthetically and operationally.
Most importantly, we wanted something that feels recognisably Connock: distinctive fragrance and formulation, the best ingredients, and real attention to detail.
What sets the new Connock England amenities collection apart from other products available to hotels today – whether that is the fragrances, formulations, presentation, sustainability credentials or the overall guest experience it is designed to create?
For me, it’s how those elements come together rather than any one of them in isolation.
The three fragrances are intentionally different in character, so hotels can choose an atmosphere that fits their property. Kukui is warm and refined, with bergamot, jasmine, gardenia, sandalwood, amber and soft vanilla. Verdant is fresh and green, combining peppermint and eucalyptus with fig, geranium, rose, sandalwood and amber. Pelago is radiant and citrus-led, bringing together orange, bergamot and lemon with rosemary, neroli, petitgrain, amber and vetiver.
The formulations behind them matter just as much: Kukui Oil, Shea Butter and Macadamia Oil; English Borage Oil, Aloe Vera and Vitamin E; Sweet Almond and Rosehip Oils. Our sourcing and formulation heritage means we think as much about how a product performs and feels as about how it smells.
We’ve also designed around the practical realities of hospitality. Bottles are made from 100% recycled Prevented Ocean Plastic and are refillable, with 5 litre refills available – designed to be refilled, not replaced. Properties can choose black or white pumps or disc-top caps, and single, double or triple wall brackets in a choice of finishes.
Beyond simply providing toiletries, what opportunity do you see for hotels in using amenities as a way to strengthen their brand identity and create a more memorable experience for guests?
Scent is one of the most powerful tools a hotel has for shaping how a space feels, almost instantly, and it has a strong pull on memory. So amenities can do far more than fulfil a practical function in the bathroom.
We see fragrance as another layer of a property’s identity. A hotel might choose one fragrance and use it consistently so it becomes part of its signature, or build a layered fragrance journey across different areas.
That’s the thinking behind our Scent Mapping service. We work with a property on how different spaces should feel – restorative in a spa, warm and inviting in bedrooms, distinctive enough in an arrival space to leave a first impression.
The fragrances can also extend beyond core bathroom amenities into reed diffusers, candles, room and linen mists and scented ceramics, so a property can build a cohesive sensory identity across the guest journey.
Looking ahead, what do you hope Connock can bring to hotel properties and their guests, and why is now the right time for hotels to consider a more considered approach to their in-room amenities?
We’d like Connock to be seen as a fragrance and amenities partner, not simply a product supplier.
Hotels are increasingly thoughtful about every touchpoint of the guest journey, and amenities sit at an interesting intersection of experience, design, sustainability and operational practicality. Guests notice the details – something that smells good, feels good to use, and fits the wider environment it sits in.
We’ve already seen properties choose us because the collection lets them shape the guest experience on their own terms, rather than take whatever a generic supplier hands them. Those details still have to work commercially and operationally, though, which is why refillable formats and flexible presentation sit alongside the fragrance and formulation work, not apart from it.
Ultimately, we want to bring hotels a collection that combines strong fragrance and formulation expertise with the flexibility to choose an amenities experience that fits their property and their guests.