Michelle Laithwaite will never forget the first time she went to watch her now husband James play rugby.
He played more than 100 games for clubs including Warrington Wolves, Toronto Wolfpack and Bradford Bulls, and could make a case for being rugby league’s unluckiest player.
In an injury-plagued career, he dislocated his shoulder and broke his left leg on four separate occasions.
However, his worst injury came on April 23, 2017, when his now-wife watched him play for the first time.
The second rower was playing for Toronto Wolfpack against Salford Red Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium when a routine tackle left him with a broken neck.
He lost feeling in his arms and, as he was stretchered off the pitch, he didn’t know if he was paralysed or if he would ever play rugby again.
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Miraculously, he managed to return to playing, but broke his leg for the fourth and final time while at Bradford Bulls and retired at the age of just 27.
“Truthfully I felt lost,” he told The Naked Founder podcast.
However, rugby league’s unluckiest player finally had a lucky break.
He launched premium meal prep delivery firm FuelHub in 2019 with Michelle on the day their son Stanley was born and the couple married in 2020.
Eddie Hearn
Seven years later, the Warrington-based business has a turnover of £6.5 million, employs 50 people, makes 23,000 meals a week and has a partnership with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
The couple told The Naked Founder podcast that their target is to manufacture up to 100,000 meals a week and become a leading UK provider.
Ironically, James said his obsession with healthy eating was partly shaped by his injuries.
“It was a brutal career,” he said. “I’d be surprised if there’s anyone with an injury record like mine.
“I feel as though there are loads of qualities I’ve learnt from professional rugby like attitude and resilience, coming back from injury after spending weeks on crutches or being bed-bound.
“With all the injuries I’ve had, if I’d just sat on the sofa and eaten for 12 weeks that would have been the worst thing for my recovery.
“I was always focused on diet when I was injured.”
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Michelle was a single mum when she met James online, later discovering he was a professional rugby league player.
“I haven’t got a clue about rugby and still don’t,” she admitted.
The couple both wanted to eat healthy food without the prep but could not find a solution.
They founded FuelHub in 2019 from their home kitchen in Warrington, and not even the premature birth of their son Stanley could slow them down.
Michelle, a mum of two boys, said: “At the start people were really interested in me and James, more so James because of his rugby background.
“I think with a brand like ours, people really want to know about the people behind it and understand why they launched it in the first place.
“We started with £20k, which was our life savings. We started on a shoestring.
“It was a long time before we took a wage. We sacrificed a lot. We even sold our house.”
FuelHub has been built on three pillars – premium, trust and quality – and has worked with top athletes and clubs including Chelsea FC, Fulham FC, Manchester United, Team GB and England Rugby Union.
In 2022, AJ Bell founder Andy Bell and former director Fergus Lyons invested £1.2m into the business.
Investment: James Laithwaite, Andy Bell, Michelle Laithwaite and Fergus Lyons
Sports promoter Eddie Hearn started as a customer before his Matchroom business became an official partner.
FuelHub operates a subscription model, with 92 per cent of its revenue coming direct to consumer through weekly meal boxes.
The company’s success is all the more remarkable given it has navigated the COVID pandemic, the cost of living crisis and record food and energy prices.
Michelle said: “We have invested everything into our business, made massive sacrifices and taken huge risks.
“There were many times when James and I felt exhausted, overwhelmed and financially and emotionally stretched to our limits, but we helped each other through the tough days because we always believed in what we were building.
Injury-prone: James Laithwaite’s rugby career was blighted by injury
“We want our story to inspire people and show that we really did come from nothing.
“We had no money. We don’t come from wealthy backgrounds. We have working-class roots. We have built something very special together and we’re so proud of it.
“We’re not in the game of saying ‘look at us’, but we do want our story out there.
“It’s not all rainbows and butterflies. We’re going through a massive growth period where the problems are still daily, just bigger and more complex.”
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