THG founder Matt Moulding has had a very different type of summer to normal.
The outspoken entrepreneur’s social media activity has been kept to a minimum in recent months and there have no photos of him holidaying on a yacht.
Now Moulding has revealed the reason why in a frank and open admission on LinkedIn.
“I’ve been ‘mullered’ all summer,” he admitted, “but sadly, not because of one too many Aperols in Mallorca.
“Instead, I’ve had that ‘worn out’ feeling many of us get. The nature of THG, with websites trading all over the world, means work follows me everywhere, 24/7.
“Add in the constant need for business model changes in three divisions, PLC stuff from being listed, and family life with three teenage boys….life can get too busy.
“So I spent this summer shutting out anything or anyone apart from work, close family and exercise. It’s a well-trodden response for me when it feels like I’ve no more space left in my head.”
The THG CEO likened his own situation to an iPhone that had run out of storage.
‘It’s been brutal running THG these past 2 years’ – Moulding
“It’s like those iPhone memory alerts we get, urging a storage plan upgrade for another £9 a month,” he said.
“No matter how many videos or photos you delete, the alerts keep coming until you buy the extra space!
“But there’s no £9 a month upgrade you can buy when we feel too busy. For me, the only solution is to change my behaviour.
“I can’t remember a summer where I’ve spent such little time with friends – face-to-face, on the phone, or even just messaging. I rarely do social events but I’ve swerved everything this summer.
“It’s not for everyone, but it works for me. My battery fills back up and I’m good to go again – which is important given we now start our busiest trading period of the year.”
Moulding used his LinkedIn blog to provide on update on a rebrand for Myprotein.
“This has been a mammoth task across thousands of products lines in different countries, which started rolling out a year ago,” he said.
“We’ve seen great success building Myprotein into the world’s No1 online sports nutrition brand, but to crack the global offline retail and convenience market to the same degree required a brand re-positioning.
“Offline retail and convenience are huge markets, much bigger than online nutrition is today, and one we’ve barely addressed in the past.
“Positioning Myprotein for this market is a huge opportunity given our brand strength and global following.
“The pressure and disruption put on those delivering these business model changes is immense. It’s been a huge effort over the past 12 months by all at Myprotein and THG and no doubt many have been finding their own way to recharge too.
“But the new positioning should now speak for itself – the branding, packaging and product ranges look and feel another level, and been well received by consumers, offline retail and licensing partners alike.
“Testimony to this is the new pan European Myprotein x Muller partnership we’ve just announced.
“We’ve been targeting the convenience dairy market for the past seven years, but the refrigerated nature of these products are outside of our wheelhouse, meaning we needed the right partnership to enter the market.
“The new range of chilled protein yogurts, mousses and puddings launch in the UK from Wednesday this week, with more ranges to follow.”
As of this morning THG’s share price stood at 59.48p.