Manx Missile ploughs six-figure sum into SiS

Isle of Man cycling star Mark Cavendish – dubbed the Manx Missile due to his phenomenal sprint speed – has ploughed hundreds of thousands of pounds into rapidly growing East Lancashire sports nutrition specialist Science in Sport.

The will help the company with its strategy to drive sales into Europe.

Cavendish, who will also launch a new product range for the group this year, joins fellow cycling star Chris Hoy who is also an investor in the Lancashire based group.

Stephen Moon, chief executive of Science in Sport, said Cavendish had made “a sizeable six figure investment” in the company.

Analysts expect it to report a loss of £1.2m for 2016 as it invests in new products.

Tesco is SiS’ biggest customer, but it also supplies Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, in addition to cycling chains Evans and Halfords, and health food group Holland & Barrett.

Moon said it will push into overseas markets this year including Spain, France and Denmark.

The market for sports foods and supplements is worth about £400m in the UK and more than £29bn.