A Nottingham retailer which sells high-protein healthy foods has reported a £13m drop in revenue in the last year. MuscleFood, which is based in Basford, is now seeking to turn its fortunes around following an "unsuccessful rebrand".
The fitness brand has been popular among countless Olympians and sportspeople, including former 'Skins' star-turned bodybuilder Megan Prescott and four-time Paralympic Gold medallist David Weir. Its boss Nick Preston, who left the company in December last year when he was joint-chief executive, has since returned as the sole man in charge.
“It feels like Groundhog Day, for the second time in three years I find myself back in MuscleFood saying the same thing, that the business had lost its focus, lost direction and suffered from mismanagement brought about by senior hires that didn’t get the brand," he says. "There was no accountability even when it was clear the plans were not working."
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The company is set to report its latest finances, with a fall in revenue from £40m during the 2020/21 financial year to £27m in 2021/22. Mr Preston previously spent six years at MuscleFood but left the business having felt his voice was going unheard.
Following on from the departure of several members of MuscleFood’s senior management team he says he has been tempted to return. "The reason I have returned is because irrespective of recent performance, Musclefood is an amazing business and I know that if run correctly, can be turned around quickly," he adds.
"The team have now been given the freedom to do the jobs they were brought in to do and they are responding by delivering some great results. We have good control on the cost base and the business is now living within its means. This in my opinion gives us the perfect platform to take the business forward.”
MuscleFood has before scooped the Specialist Online Food Retailer of the Year accolade at the Grocer Gold Awards, where judges said it had achieved "impressive growth". This was back in 2018.
Its turnover had been surpassing £100 million, with the business making a profit each year and selling 53,000 healthy items to customers daily. The business was valued at £50 million at the time.
It spend around £2.5m on a rebrand the same year with founder Darren Beale revealing the company no longer simply wanted to appeal to bodybuilders. More recently the brand paired with Nandos to release a series of bundles.
According to the company a recent internal HR Survey from across the business reported 89% of staff reported that they felt MuscleFood had a bright future and 96% felt they were trusted to do their job. At the same time, a renewed focus on the core MuscleFood online meat hamper business has seen the sales decline halted, with a reported increase.
“My first priority has been on bringing in people who understand this brand and feel passionately about it," Mr Preston says. "It’s all about restoring a sense of pride and identity.
"We will be focusing on our healthy eating offering and on the high quality of our meat and its incredible value for money. Times are difficult out there for consumers and we shouldn’t be afraid to champion and celebrate the fact we offer our customers a great deal when it comes to their food shop.”
Mr Preston is also the founder of DTS Food and creator of the ChillerFiller retail supply mobile application. DTS supplies MuscleFood with several products.
Their new meat and seafood range will soon be launched in Poundland, replacing other products which were recently the focus of negative press attention. Mr Preston added: “Our products offer both great value and super quality which makes them perfect for consumers who want to save money without compromising on quality. I’m excited to share the news of our partnership with Poundland.
"It’s products such as these which also built MuscleFood into a powerhouse of online retail. Consumers knew they could come to the website for both value and quality. That has always been the case but we lost our focus in communicating it.
"The healthy eating range accounts for around two thirds of MuscleFood revenue. We’re promoting that once again and it’s what we want to be known for first and foremost.”
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