They shared the origin story of “Say You’ll Be There” in the book Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame.

This song was one of the first that Spice Girls wrote after they left their managers—Chris and Bob Herbert—in 1995. The girls stole the master recordings of their discography from the management offices to keep control of their own work, but without access to Herbert’s contacts, they knew about Eliot Kennedy only that he lived in Sheffield. Mel B and Geri drove to Sheffield and looked for the first phone book they come across, and he was the third Kennedy that they called. The same day they went to his house and persuade him to work with them. The next day the group went to Sheffield to meet with producer Eliot Kennedy, a meeting that was arranged by the Herberts before their departure. The group persuaded him to work with them, becoming a productive session.

Eliot Kennedy commented:

None of them played instruments, so I was left to do the music and get that vibe together. What I said to them was, ‘Look, I’ve got a chorus—check this out’. And I’d sing them the chorus and the melody—no lyrics or anything—and straight away five pencils and pads came out and they were throwing lines at us. Ten minutes later the song was written. Then you go through and refine it. Then later, as you were recording it you might change a few thing here and there. But pretty much it was a real quick process. They were confident in what they were doing, throwing it out there.