Oliver Cookson

Oliver Cookson
Oliver Cookson in 2014
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known for Founder of MYPROTEIN, Owner & Founder of GoNutrition.
Net worth Increase £206million (as of 2017) "The Sunday Times Rich List"

Oliver Cookson is a UK entrepreneur who established the sports nutrition business Myprotein. In 2011 Cookson sold Myprotein for a reported £58 million to The Hut Group . He later established Monocore which has launched two brands, GoNutrition and Saints & Slimmers. He is also the founder of P-Fit and OSC Group.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life

Cookson worked before and after school on a paper round and on the weekends in a take-away.[6] Cookson left school at the age of sixteen with one GCSE to take up a junior IT position under an Apprenticeship scheme for a company called Pantek.[1][4] He progressed to become a contract website developer for a range of different blue-chip organisations around the UK.[1][4] In 2001, when Cookson was aged 22 he was convicted of incitement under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 by Manchester Crown Court after pleading guilty. Cookson was fined £600 and ordered to complete 200 hours community after undercover investigators exposed the ploy and found Cookson masterminded a cable TV dodge which allowed viewers to see pay-per-view channels for free.[7]

Career

Myprotein

In 2004, Cookson established the business Myprotein using an overdraft of £500. He used his website development abilities combined with his interest in fitness and sports nutrition to form the Myprotein business.[1][2][3][4] On 1 June 2011, Cookson sold Myprotein to The Hut Group for a reported £58 million. Cookson remained on the board of directors of The Hut Group until October 2012 when he resigned from the board.

A fund-raise in July 2015 values The Hut Group in the region of £900m.[8] The Trust which Cookson is a beneficiary, still holds a major stake in The Hut Group as of July 2015.

Monocore

On 1 November 2011, Cookson established the business Monocore Ltd. One of the first concepts developed by the Monocore business is the weight management initiative known as Saints & Slimmers launched in December 2012.[9] The second enterprise started by Cookson in August 2013 was GoNutrition, which sells sports supplements directly to consumers through its website similar to Myprotein.[1][2][3][4][5]

Litigation with The Hut Group

Oliver Cookson was involved in a long running case of litigation with The Hut Group over the sale of Myprotein in 2011. Cookson was sued for £15 million with The Hut Group claiming overestimation affected the valuation of the company when they bought it. Cookson counter sued for £12.7 million claiming a breach of warranty and fraudulent mis-representation. The matter went to the High Court in London in October 2014 and after a month-long trial, judgement was given by William Blair in November 2014 giving Oliver Cookson an overall net result win of £6.5m in damages.[10][11]

At the costs hearing in December 2014, the judge awarded a payment of just under £7.5 million to be made by The Hut Group to Cookson and the Trust in respect of all of the claims and counterclaims in the action, and also one third of the costs incurred by Cookson and the Trust.[12] Cookson and the Trust gained permission to appeal the courts decision to award The Hut Group damages. The appeal was heard in February 2016[13] with the appeal dismissed on 22 March 2016.[14]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Do I want to be the next Apple?" The Sunday Times, by Kiki Loizou, 17 February 2013, subscription required
  2. 1 2 3 "MyProtein founder finds receipt for new ventures", Insider Media Limited, 12 March 2013
  3. 1 2 3 "Fear is a Liar" Insider Media Limited, 15 October 2013
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Business Big Shot", The Times, by Laura Pitel, 2 June 2011, subscription required
  5. 1 2 "MyProtein founder launches latest venture", Manchester Evening News, by Shelina Begum, 28 August 2013
  6. ↑ Go Nutrition, 25 March 2013
  7. ↑ BBC News - Computer expert fined over TV piracy, 17 July 2001
  8. ↑ Hut Group To Nudge £1bn With New Fundraising
  9. ↑ "Myprotein founder launches latest venture". Manchester Evening.
  10. ↑ "The judgment by The Hon Mr Justice Blair - The Hut Group Ltd v Cookson", England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions, 20 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Business Desk article - 21 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Costs awarded in The Hut Group vs Oliver Cookson & Barclays Private Bank & Trust Ltd - Press Release by DWF.
  13. ↑ http://www.dwf.co.uk/news-events/dwf-press/2015/04/permission-to-appeal-granted-in-high-court-case-between-the-hut-group-ltd-and-oliver-cookson-and-others/
  14. ↑ The Hut successfully defends court appeal by Cookson | TheBusinessDesk.com
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