Farnham man and entrepreneur Barry Smith, founder of the celebrity-endorsed probiotic supplement Symprove, is self-publishing a book telling the story of how a chance discovery changed the direction of his life.

Every bottle of Symprove ever made has been produced on a former farm in The Sands, and the company has gone from strength to strength in the past few years, supported by the likes of Shirley Ballas, Alexandra Burke and Ella Mills, to name a few.

Louise Stanley, of Symprove Ltd, said: “A lot of serious scientific research has gone into Symprove – but it’s a sense of community and connection that makes it so much more than just a gut supplement that works.

“We rely heavily on word of mouth and well over a third of our customers are recommended by friends and family to try Symprove.

“A lot of Symprove employees suffer from gut issues themselves or have close family who do, and so this really fuels the work we do.

“Barry is always being asked if he’ll write his story, and now he has!”

Symprove Ltd was born in 2002, founded on curiosity and creativity. It started as a germ of an idea (quite literally) when a farmer, founder Barry Smith, created his own cattle food from germinated grains – a form of probiotic.

Noticing the positive effects on his cattle, Barry shared his discovery. And after leading vets suggested the product could have benefits for humans, Barry led a research and development programme to produce a formula suitable for human consumption.

The resulting food supplement became Symprove, which was launched as brand in 2010.

It was a chance discovery that led Barry to devote 37 years to developing a life-changing supplement.

His book, The Symprove Story, details the twists and turns along the way and explains how a fledgling idea has become an innovative biotech company with tens of thousands of UK customers.

The book will be launched next Thursday (February 9) at 1pm. For more information see the website www.symprove.com