About THG
From a British start-up to a global brand builder
What we do
THG PLC is a global retailer and brand owner, headquartered in Manchester, UK, operating through two leading predominantly online consumer businesses: THG Beauty and THG Nutrition.
THG Beauty operates prominent online platforms including Lookfantastic, Cult Beauty and Dermstore, offering a valued route to market for over 1,300 third‑party brands, alongside a specialist portfolio of owned brands.
THG Nutrition, led by Myprotein, the world’s largest online sports nutrition brand, spans multiple health and wellness categories, delivering its products both directly to consumers and through strategic offline partnerships worldwide.
Following the demerger of THG Ingenuity earlier this year, we enter the next phase of our journey as a global beauty, health and wellness consumer brands group.
Our story
Our journey began with the launch of our first website, thehut.com, where we sold CDs, DVDs, and video games online.
As third-party technology costs rose, and streaming services gained popularity, we realised the need to pivot our business model and commenced investment in an in-house platform to power our website. At that time, few businesses were selling online, so once our platform was built and rigorously tested, we had a relevant and leading asset which became what is today known as THG Ingenuity.
We acquired Zavvi.
We bought the high-street entertainment business from administration and transformed it into an online-only retailer, Zavvi.com. Achieved recognition within the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.
Our goal wasn’t to dominate a specific sector; it was to recognise trends and adapt quicky.
We noticed a rise in online shopping for consumables like supplements and cosmetics and shifted our focus to brand ownership and reselling. This led to our move into the D2C market with the acquisition of online beauty retailer, Lookfantastic.
A year later, we expanded our portfolio further and acquired sports nutrition brand Myprotein.
This acquisition, along with the launch of Myvitamins.com, formed part of our plan to continue diversifying our sales and customer mix to deliver higher margin revenue growth.
Myprotein became the number one online sports nutrition brand in Europe.
We launched international websites across Europe, North America, China, and Scandinavia, shipping 13 million orders, and we fulfilled an ambition for Myprotein to become the number one online sports nutrition brand in Europe.
We created thousands of jobs with the opening of our food and distribution facilities.
Our warehousing and fulfillment capabilities expanded with the opening of a 1 million sq. ft. food production and distribution facility in Cheshire, UK, and another in Kentucky, US. This created thousands of new jobs and supported our growth plans in the UK and global nutrition markets.
We acquired UK2 (now THG Hosting) and Hangar Seven (now THG Studios).
We bolstered our infrastructure in hosting with the acquisition of UK2 (now THG Hosting), and in content creation with the acquisition of Hangar Seven (now THG Studios). We also expanded our portfolio of owned beauty brands through the acquisitions of ESPA, Illamasqua, and Glossybox.
We were awareded the Queen's Award for Enterprise.
In the year we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, we invested in our beauty innovation and manufacturing capabilities by acquiring Acheson and Acheson, and acquired Language Connect (now THG Fluently), to support our international growth with localised translation services.
We scaled the Ingenuity platform.
We scaled up the commercialisation of the Ingenuity platform, transforming THG’s SaaS into THG Commerce. We continued to expand our beauty brand portfolio with the acquisition of luxury haircare brand Christophe Robin. Websites on the THG Ingenuity platform received over 610 million visits, and more than 80 million units were dispatched using our infrastructure, supporting revenue growth to over £1.1 billion.
Largest tech IPO on the LSE in September 2020.
This significant milestone reflected our robust financial health and ambitious growth plans, positioning us for further expansion and innovation.
We acquired Cult Beauty.
We acquired Cult Beauty, a UK-based online beauty retailer known for its curated selection of prestige and emerging independent brands. This acquisition was part of our strategy to expand our beauty portfolio, broadening consumer choice through new brand partnerships. We also opened a state-of-the-art content creation studio at our ICON campus in Manchester, alongside office spaces and fulfillment hubs, solidifying our position as a major employer in the Northwest.
We reported revenue of £2.2 billion.
By focusing on consolidating our businesses and enhancing operational efficiencies to streamline and reduce costs, we set the foundations for sustainable growth. We reported record revenue of £2.2 billion, despite facing significant challenges due to the global macroeconomic environment, including inflationary pressures on raw materials, labor, and operational costs.
We acquired Biossance.
We actively managed our portfolio through the exit of small legacy brands within THG Beauty and THG Nutrition, and through the sale of OnDemand and ProBikeKit. THG Beauty added US-based, prestige skincare brand Biossance to their portfolio of owned brands with the goal of unlocking further value and audience reach in their key markets. Myprotein was recognised by several industry bodies for its innovation in vitamins and bars and snacking and launched a licensing partnership with Iceland Foods in over 1000+ UK stores.
The demerger of Ingenuity.
A significant year in the company’s history with the announcement and subsequent completion of the demerger of THG Ingenuity. We continued to streamline our operations to focus on high-margin categories where we have a competitive edge. Our businesses offline strategy accelerated through the launch of the first Lookfantastic concept store and an expanding retail presence through partnerships with category leaders including Müller.
Life at THG
Building brands since 2004.
In 2024, we celebrated our 20th year in business. To mark this milestone, we sat down with various people who have played pivotal roles in our journey.
Through their perspectives, we uncover the story of THG and share their favourite memories from the past two decades.
Purpose, Vision & Values
Our workforce is as diverse as our customer base. This not only enables us to understand and cater to customer’s needs but also creates a workplace where individual differences are accepted, valued, and encouraged. But there are still a few things we all have in common.
