OUR STORY

APPLIED NUTRITION IS THE UK’S FASTEST GROWING SPORTS AND ACTIVE NUTRITION BRAND.

QUALITY

We formulate and create premium nutrition supplements for professional athletes, fitness enthusiasts, the gym lifestyle community and people looking to supplement their diet with the highest quality health, wellbeing and beauty nutrition.

Our products are available in more than 60 countries across the world, and we support pro athletes in disciplines from Premiership Football to the UFC.

TRUSTED

We’ve grown at a blistering pace from a group of athletes defined by fitness, endurance, and strength, to become a globally recognised brand, trusted by people who know what they need from their nutrition.

Led by a team of expert sports nutritionists, our products are designed, formulated, blended, and packaged by us at our state-of-the-art facility in the UK.

ACCREDITED

We ensure our products contain no WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) prohibited substances, giving our customers complete reassurance they are using supplements from a manufacturer who uses tested, approved and quality ingredients.

Quality in every aspect of the manufacturing process is assured thanks to the highest standard of assurance awarded through LGC Sport Science Informed-Sports and Informed Manufacturer accreditations.

OFFICIAL NUTRITION PARTNERS TO

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Applied Nutrition was founded in 2014 by CEO and fitness enthusiast, Tom Ryder.  Observing that demand for supplements was skyrocketing among increasingly health-conscious consumers, Tom recognised that high-quality, convenient products were difficult to get hold of and saw the potential to create something new.

Tom created Applied Nutrition, launching with a single product - Critical Mass. Recognising the need for quality-assured products, he formed a partnership with Informed Sport, a global testing and certification programme for sports and nutritional supplements, before moving on to secure an accreditation from the World Anti-Doping Agency and becoming a certified Halal producer.

Fast forward to today, and our +200-strong team produces four high quality product ranges, aimed at a range of needs across the health and wellbeing community. All Black Everything, our highly formulated, premium range targeted at experienced gym goers, was launched in 2016, followed by Endurance, a specialist product targeted at endurance athletes in 2021. Most recently we launched Body Fuel, an entry-level product aimed at the price-conscious consumer, in 2023.

We now sell products in over 80 countries globally and in 2023, we were named in the Sunday Times ‘Fastest Growing Companies’ list. Operating from our premises in Liverpool, we manufacture 85% of our products in our own accredited facility, shipping worldwide to our distribution partners.

In 2022 we opened an office in Texas to grow in the USA, which is the largest market globally, and we are proud to have already secured a partnership with the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, as well as listings with other major outlets across the country.

MEET OUR TEAM

BOARD MEMBERS

Andy Bell

Independent Non-Executive Chair
Chair of the Nomination Committee

After spending a number of years working within the financial services sector, Andy
co-founded AJ Bell in 1995. Having graduated from Nottingham University in 1987 with a first-class degree in Mathematics, he qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1993 and built AJ Bell into one of the UK’s largest online investment platforms. Andy stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of AJ Bell PLC on 30 September 2022 and has continued as a consultant. A defining feature of Andy’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer was a focus on ensuring that AJ Bell’s primary purpose, vision and culture were engrained in the business.

Andy believes that a strong and effective governance framework is one of the most important foundations on which to successfully grow a business. This approach to governance has stood the test of time as AJ Bell has grown from being a small enterprise to a FTSE 250 listed company.

Andy was appointed Chair of Applied Nutrition in February 2024. Andy wrote the widely acclaimed “DIY Investor”, which is now in its third edition. Andy has a
number of private equity interests across a variety of business sectors and devotes time to the charitable trust he founded in 2011, the AJ Bell Trust. Andy was awarded a CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours List.

Thomas Ryder

Chief Executive Officer

Thomas is the Founder and CEO of Applied Nutrition. Thomas has been involved in the sports nutrition, health and wellness market since his early twenties, as a keen gym goer with an interest in nutrition and supplements. He started his professional career in sports nutrition, health and wellness with a supplements retail store in Liverpool, which led him into the wholesaling market and ultimately to acquiring the Applied Nutrition brand.

Thomas started to manufacture his own products for Applied Nutrition in 2016, providing him with valuable experience across retailing, wholesaling and manufacturing, as well as managing his own brand. This vertical experience has helped Thomas build one of the fastest growing sports nutrition, health and wellness brands in the UK and Europe, with products now being sold in over 80 countries worldwide.

Steven Granite

Chief Operating Officer

Steven is the Chief Operating Officer of Applied Nutrition and was appointed in April 2021. He is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport. Steven previously led a private equity backed food logistics company (Abbey Logistics Group Limited) in roles as Finance Director, Managing Director, CEO and Executive Chairman, until October 2023 when he led the sale of the business to a European competitor (Sitra NV).

From 2012 to 2023, Steven founded and chaired a multi-award winning not-for-profit initiative called ‘Think Logistics’ which seeks to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds gain opportunities within the logistics sector and assist in attracting more young people to the logistics sector. He was also a director of ‘Logistics UK’ which is the UK’s largest logistics trade body association from 2019 to 2022.

Joe Pollard

Chief Financial Officer

Joe joined the Group as Chief Financial Officer in May 2021 and was appointed to the Board of Directors at the same time. He is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified while working for Deloitte.

He previously worked at Grant Thornton in its Corporate Finance practice advising on M&A activity for entrepreneurs, corporate entities, and private equity investors. He has extensive experience leading complex transactions in multiple jurisdictions. In 2021, Joe led the team that advised on JD Sports taking a 32% ownership interest in the Group.

Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Joe worked at Deloitte where he spent time in both the Audit and Equity Capital Markets advisory teams. Joe holds a first-class honours degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Liverpool.

Tony Buffin

Independent Non-Executive Director
Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee
Chair of the Disclosure Committee

Tony is the Executive Chair of Tecsa, a software and consumer analytics provider, which he founded in 2019 and in which Wesfarmers, Australia and Dairy Farm International, part of the Jardine Matheson Group, are cornerstone investors. Prior to founding Tecsa, Tony was the Chief Executive Officer of Holland & Barrett, the UK’s leading alternative health and beauty retailer, the former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Travis Perkins PLC and prior to that was Chief Financial Officer of Coles Group, a top 25 ASX listed retailer.

Tony spent his earlier career at Boots and Loyalty Management Group where he led the successful sale of the business to Canadian listed Aimia Inc. He is a fellow of the ICAEW and graduated from Cambridge University with a first class degree in Geography. He is chair of Highbourne Group and Nobia AB.

Marnie Millard

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Chair of the Remuneration Committee

Until December 2020, Marnie was Group Chief Executive for Nichols PLC, the home of Vimto. Marnie now has a NED portfolio career. She chairs the boards at UA92, Pura and Marks Electrical PLC and is the chair of the Remuneration Committee for Applied Nutrition. Previously she was chair of the board at Kidly Ltd and a non-executive director for Finsbury Food Group PLC and Belvoir Fruit Farms Ltd. In May 2025, Marnie was appointed as Non-Executive Chair of Kitwave Group plc.

She is a fellow of the Society of Leadership at St Georges House and a Board Mentor at the Critical Eye organisation.

Marnie held the chair for the CBI in the North West of England for 3 years as well as being an Advisor to the Board of International Trade.

Marnie was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2018 in recognition of her contributions to International Trade and Business in the North West of England.

Peter Cowgill

Independent Non-Executive Director

Peter is a distinguished business leader with a proven track record in the retail and consumer sectors.

He is best known for his 18-year tenure as Executive Chairman of JD Sports Fashion plc, during which he oversaw the significant growth and international expansion of the business, transforming it from a small UK retailer to a member of the FTSE 100 with more than 3,400 stores across 27 territories worldwide and revenues of over £10 billion. In 2021, Peter led JD Sports Fashion plc’s acquisition of a minority holding in Applied Nutrition and subsequently became a personal investor in the Group ahead of its IPO in 2024.

Peter currently serves as Non-Executive Chair of The Fragrance Shop.

Deepti Velury Bakhshi

Independent Non-Executive Director

Deepti is currently the Chief Technology and Transformation Officer at Epsilon, Publicis where she is leading transformation initiatives focused on data, AI, and scalable marketing technology.

Prior to joining Epsilon, she served as Chair of Tag Worldwide, following her tenure as Global Chief Operating Officer where she led the company’s transformation agenda – modernizing operations, technology, and global delivery to drive scale and efficiency.

Earlier in her career, she led global transformation at Cushman & Wakefield and began her career in consulting at Accenture.