The chief executive of a Greater Manchester start-up has revealed his future plans for the company ahead of its turnover doubling and it expanding overseas.
Jonny Kennedy launched wellness brand Neubria in 2018 after he was forced to retire as a Sale Sharks player due to concussion.
The Altrincham company is backed by Latium Enterprises, the private equity firm chaired by his father Brian who owned the rugby union club before he sold it to Simon Orange and Ged Mason in 2016.
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His father is also well known for having previously owned Stockport County and co-financed Tommy Lee Jones film The Homesman in 2014. He is also known for working with the family of Madeleine McCann following her disappearance in 2007.
Since hanging up his boots in 2011, Jonny served as a director of Sale Sharks for three years and also helps to run Kennedy Renewables, which owns a commercial wind farm in Fife, Scotland.
Speaking to BusinessLive, Jonny revealed his future plans for Neubria, which has national listings in both Holland & Barrett and Lloyds Pharmacy.
He confirmed Nuebria has already exceeded its turnover for 2021 and is track to double that total by the end of 2022.
Mr Kennedy said: "This is predominantly down to international expansion, with Neubria now available in 17 new markets, across Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. The business is also in late discussions with both China and India.
"On top of that we've just launched a new accessibly priced multivitamin range into the UK market which provides support for both the mind and body, so we're expecting another 80% growth in 2023.
"We have secured exciting national listings in the UK for our product ranges with both Holland & Barrett and Lloyds Pharmacy and all being well we hope to add another retailer or two next year."
While the business is not set to be profitable this year because of the "huge investment in R&D and the development" of a multivitamin range, it is predicted to turn a profit in 2023.
However, the CEO added the profits would be "automatically reinvested into the business given the infancy of the brand in such a highly competitive sector".
The company currently has seven full-time employees but is currently hiring into its marketing team while it also makes use of the legal and accounts resource in Latium Enterprises.
Mr Kennedy added that he has a "close working relationship" with Latium Enterprises which provides it with strategic consultancy, shared resource, and funding when required.
He said: "My father has been a hugely successful businessman so it would be remiss of me not to seek as much guidance as possible to make Neubria a success."
On whether he sees his company in the next five years, he added: "We'd like to have broken into the major global markets, but it will be no easy feat. But we have the success of our international business so far, and we are developing a strong brand position in this sector where most brands look and sound the same, so we believe we have what it takes to compete.
"We also have a high level of expertise and strong R&D to support our unique proposition. We're making great strides already, but this is only the beginning of the journey for Neubria and we're incredibly excited about the future for the business."
Mr Kennedy also opened up about how he set about creating his company and acquiring experts to support him. After being forced to retire from rugby early, he said it felt like "there were chapters of my life closing all too quickly around me".
He said: "I needed a focus, a purpose. I believe you discover and make your own purpose by honestly self-assessing whether you're pursuing your passion or not.
"As a professional rugby player, it's obvious you'd spend a lot of time working on your physical strength and health. And supplements that go with this – creatine or protein, for example, are all geared towards building muscle or helping recover from an intense workout session. Unfortunately, there was very little focus, if any, given to mental or emotional wellness during my career.
"But our brains govern every process in our bodies: every thought, every action and reflex. My friends taking their lives also showed me the fragility of the mind. We talk about brain power without thinking about how much work brains do.
"I am completely fascinated by how we can make the most of that power and how we can best support our lifelong physical and cognitive health. It is this that led to the birth of Neubria. It aligns with my core values and beliefs and truly is an extension of me and the team I’ve built around me.
"My ultimate goal was to create efficacious health products that made a difference in people’s lives – products that combine physical, mental and emotional benefits", he said.
"I also wanted to build a business that I could pass down to my three children. But I needed experts on board to help me create something that has been inherently missing from the vitamins and supplements market – products that support both the mind and body."
While attending the VitaFoods Europe convention in 2017, Jonny came across a panel discussion that featured Mike Wakeman, a pharmacist and healthcare specialist with 30 years’ of experience in the natural products industry.
He said: "Listening to Mike Wakeman describing centuries-old ingredients and botanicals and their impact on current world ailments, such as stress, fatigue or even blue light radiation, was the moment that changed everything."
"I approached him as soon as he came off stage, blurted out the vision I had for Neubria, which surprisingly he entertained from a young man with no experience in the industry, and the rest is history."
He has since gained support from Cambridge University’s neuroscience department, as well as Professor David Nieman, director of human performance at Appalachian State University and director of the human performance lab at the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), as well as neuroscientist Dr Julia Gottwald, Neuroscientist.
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