Apis & Ursus
Thursday 25th June, 2026
The bears and the bees are not the pairing one immediately thinks of, but in their Latin form, they are the inspiration behind Apis & Ursus, the umbrella company for the separate enterprises run by husband-and-wife team Josh and Shelby Homerston.
Electronics engineer Josh runs circuit board design company Bluish Smoke, while Shelby heads up Seyes Media, specialising in food and drink photography. Together they form Apis & Ursus, personal nicknames which turned out to be the perfect businesses brand.
Josh was born and raised in Truro, attending Penair School and Truro College. “I went away to university, and swore blind I wouldn’t come back to Cornwall because there was nothing here for me,” he laughs. “But we came back during the pandemic to be nearer my parents, as my mum was unwell. It’s a beautiful place, and there’s more to do than I remember.”
Shelby hails from Nashville, Tennessee, although you’d never know from the accent. “My parents are British,” she explains. “We left the States when I was nine, first for Europe, then back to the UK when I was 14.”
While Josh studied cybernetics at Reading University and Shelby photography at Reading College, both spent many years working in hospitality. Josh moved into mixology, tending and managing cocktail bars, “everything from dive bars to five-star hotels”, for 10 years.
“I didn’t mean to stay so long, but I made some of my best friends, and realised I could be just as good at making an Old-Fashioned as I was at designing circuit boards,” he laughs. “I feel less compelled to spend late nights in bars these days, though.”
Their passions were calling, and in 2021 the pair set up their own businesses with the help of a personal loan from a good friend. Josh had always been fascinated and excited by electronics, and as a child devoured information from magazines and TV before even having an actual computer.
“I wanted to go back to engineering, and decided to buy a few bits of equipment and set up a website,” said Josh. “Within a few months, someone asked if I could do a job for them; I’m now pretty much full-time with them, with the occasional side project.”
Anything electronic has a circuit board to host all the different microchips that make it work – from the key fob that opens your car, to the chip that makes your microwave lights flash, to your mobile phone. Josh has a go at explaining it to me, but I confess a lot of it goes over my head. Thankfully, I’m not alone: “I spend a lot of time smiling and nodding,” says Shelby.
She is focusing on building her photography: still life, product shots and hospitality promotion. There’s no AI slop here: “People don’t like it. They want to see what they are buying.”
Mr and Mrs Homerston moved to Newham’s Meridian House four months ago. “It’s a more stable, modern studio space - there are lots of businesses here and we’re taken more seriously,” says Shelby.
Bluish Smoke: www.bluishsmoke.uk
Seyes Media: https://seyesmedia.uk/