see hut group . the hut group type private industry retail & technology founded 2004 2004 founders matthew moulding john gallemore headquarters northwich cheshire united kingdom area served worldwide products various revenue 334 million 2015 1 number of employees 1000 2 divisions retail & technology services website www.thehutgroup.com the hut group is a british e commerce company with headquarters in northwich cheshire . through multiple websites which it owns and operates the hut group sells a variety of products including sports nutrition and vitamins cycling and endurance health and beauty weight management and clothing and accessories . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 awards 4 ownership 5 acquisition strategy 6 litigation 7 references 8 external links history edit the company was established by matthew moulding a chartered accountant in 2004 . 3 operations edit the hut group launched its first website in 2004 focusing on lifestyle health and beauty products . in addition the group has other websites for product categories including fashion entertainment and sports supplements . the hut group s current brands include the hut zavvi coggles exante diet myprotein lookfantastic and mankind . awards edit in november 2008 the hut group won the bank of scotland north west entrepreneur challenge with the prize of a 5 million interest free loan . 4 on 5 february 2009 the company was voted the united kingdom s best entrepreneur after beating the other regional finalists . 5 in september 2009 the hut group topped the tech track 100 list of fastest growing technology companies in the united kingdom . 6 in 2007 and 2008 the hut group topped the table for north west england whilst rising steadily through the national table . in april 2013 mybag.com the hut group s footwear store won the draper s footwear and or accessories etailer of the year . 7 in april 2014 the hut group topped the sunday times profit track 100 list of britain s private companies with the fastest growing profits . 8 in april 2015 the hut group became the first company to top the sunday times profit track 100 list of britain s private companies with the fastest growing profits for the second year running . profits grew an average of 217 % a year from 503 000 in 2011 to 16m in 2014 . 9 in july 2016 the hut group announced it had bought hale country club and spa a 50 000 sq ft fitness and beauty facility located in wythenshawe . 10 ownership edit chaired by richard pennycook the chief executive of the co operative group its investors include sir terry leahy the former tesco chief executive and lord rose the chairman of ocado and britain stronger in europe . in 2014 the company sold a 19.2 % stake to kohlberg kravis roberts one of the world s leading private equity firms while balderton capital a technology investor owns an identical stake . 11 blackrock the world s biggest asset manager is also a shareholder and invested 138m in february 2016 . 12 acquisition strategy edit on 24 december 2008 the entertainment retailer zavvi entered into administration . 13 on 27 february 2009 the hut group acquired the zavvi.co.uk online brand from administrators ernst and young for an undisclosed sum . 14 in january 2010 the hut group appointed steven whitehead to lead its acquisition initiatives . whitehead was a former assistant director at altium capital . 15 in june 2011 the hut group acquired myprotein.com from oliver cookson . myprotein was advised by altium capital s 16 simon lord 17 andy clarke 18 and phil frame . 19 the hut group later went on to litigate against oliver cookson claiming that the company s profits were significantly overstated during the sale process . 20 in july 2016 the hut group acquired hale country club and spa marking a defined change of direction in corporate strategy . previously the group had concentrated on online e tailing where by the group ceo s own admission customer service interaction is minimal . the hut focuses on fmcg products that generate a high level of repeat purchases . it sells goods with a low return rate across the group returns are in low single digits says moulding 21 the expressed intention of the acquisition was brand synergy with the group s myprotein and lookfantastic brands . 22 litigation edit 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 6.5 m in damages . 23 24 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 one third of the costs incurred by mr cookson and the trust . 25 oliver cookson and the trust have been successful in gaining permission to appeal the courts decision to award the hut groups damages with the appeal to be heard in february 2016 . 26 the court of appeal dismissed the appeal on the 22 march 2016 . 27 oliver cookson and his off shore trust did not contest the high court s findings that they had overstated myprotein s profits ; rather the appeal focused on a very narrow technical issue that the hut group was time barred from bringing its claim . 28 oliver cookson was advised by altium capital on the sale of myprotein.com to the hut group . 29 altium capital has also advised the hut group on various pre initial public offering fundraisings in april 2010 . 30 31 references edit annual returns up to end of 2015 . companies house . the hut group linkedin . the hut group . retrieved 2016 01 07 . history of the hut group . the hut group wins north west final of bank of scotland entrepreneur challenge . the hut group . 2008 11 28 . retrieved 2009 03 02 . the hut group voted britain s best entrepreneur . the hut group . 2009 02 05 . retrieved 2009 03 02 . tech track 100 league table 2009 . fast track . 2008 09 21 . retrieved 2009 09 23 . dead link draper s footwear and or accessories etailer of the year 2013 . drapers . 2013 07 05 . retrieved 2013 07 05 . fasttrack 2014 pdf . fasttrack 2015 pdf . the hut group buys country club . hut group grows beauty arm with canadian deal . sky news . 23 february 2016 . retrieved 18 april 2016 . the hut group secures extra funding as sales and profits jump . retail week . 16 february 2016 . retrieved 18 april 2016 . zavvi placed into administration . bbc online . bbc news . 2008 12 24 . retrieved 2009 01 06 . the hut swoops for zavvi.co.uk . mcv . 2009 03 02 . retrieved 2009 03 02 . steven whitehead . myprotein s advisers . simon lord . andy clarke . phil frame . annual returns up to end of 2015 note 4 . companies house . retail week . hale and the hut group hale country club & spa . www.halecountryclub.co.uk . retrieved 2016 10 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 20th november 2014 . business desk article 21st november 2014 . costs awarded in the hut group vs oliver cookson & barclays private bank & trust ltd press release by dwf . permission to appeal granted in high court case between the hut group ltd and oliver cookson and others . dwf.law . retrieved 17 april 2016 . deals restructuring deals list the hut sucessfully defends court appeal by cookson thebusinessdesk.com . retrieved 17 april 2016 . annual returns up to end of 2015 . companies house . myprotein . retrieved 17 april 2016 . the hut group ltd . retrieved 17 april 2016 . the hut group ltd . altium capital . retrieved 17 april 2016 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the hut group & oldid 743724592 categories online retailers of the united kingdomcompanies based in cheshireretail companies established in 2003hidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from october 2010 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 22 09 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may 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