Friday, 24 December 2010

Merry Christmas

The last pre christmas orders have now been dispatched, if you ordered before 1pm today your order has been shipped. There are obviously no deliveries over the weekend or on the the bank holiday so next deliveries will take place on Wednesday 29th December.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas.

Friday, 17 December 2010

Latest Delivery Updates

The weather is still causing significant disruption to delivery services, whilst we are still shipping as normal and will endeavour to get items to you as quickly as possible it's difficult for us to guarantee delivery timescales at the moment.

Parcelforce Service Update 17th December 2010 -

Weather conditions have worsened overnight particularly in Northern Ireland, Northern Scotland, Wales and South West England. The forecast is also predicting snow for many other parts of the country over the weekend. With the exception of Northern Ireland we do have all drivers delivering today as well as Saturday and Sunday, as we are endeavouring to deliver as many parcels as possible.

Unfortunately we have had to suspend our adhoc collections until next week and extend our service suspensions in Scotland, North East England, South East London, Northern Ireland, Wales and South West England. Full details of affected areas are shown within the attached PDF (48 KB).

Please be aware that we are still accepting parcels for delivery in Scotland today. However, today is the last day we will be able to do so in order for us to deliver your parcels by Christmas.

CNP Special Offers

We're currently offering some specials on CNP Pro Cycling Sports Nutrition products, the same products supplied to British Cycling and as used by Team Sky riders.

A seletion of offers are shown below but check out our CNP products page for details of all the offers available.

BUY 1 GET 1 FREE ON CNP ENERGY GELS


For every gel or box of gels you order we'll send you another gel or box free. The offer is available on both CNP Pro Energy Max Gels and CNP Energising Gels and applies to single sachets or full boxes.

HALF PRICE CNP STARTER PACKS


The CNP Starter Pack offers the chance to try the full range of CNP Pro Cycling products, including gels, bars, Pro Recover, Pro Peptide, Pro Hydrate and Pro Energy along with 2 mixer bottles for £49.99 compared to a RRP of £102.

10% OFF PRO ENERGY AND PRO FLAPJACK BARS


Get 10% off Pro Energy Bars and Pro Flapjack Bars, offer applies to both single bars and 12 bar packs.

Ironman Training

This "I'm training for an Ironman" video on you tube made us smile -

Monday, 13 December 2010

GSK to acquire Maxinutrition

Just been reading the press release from GlaxoSmithKline on their acquistion of Maxinutrition (the company behind Maximuscle, Maxitone and Maxifuel), with GSK already owning Lucozade Sport it should give them an even stronger presence in the sports nutrition market.

Full press release below -

GSK to strengthen Nutritional Healthcare business with acquisition of Maxinutrition
Issued: Monday 13 December 2010, London UK

GlaxoSmithKline (‘GSK’) and Maxinutrition Group Holdings Limited (‘Maxinutrition’) today announced they have entered into an agreement for GSK to acquire Maxinutrition, a UK company that manufactures protein-enhanced functional nutrition products, from Darwin Private Equity. Subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading, GSK will acquire 100 per cent of the shares of Maxinutrition for a cash consideration of approximately £162 million including the repayment of outstanding debt.

Maxinutrition is Europe’s No. 1 sports nutrition company by market share and has delivered sales growth of approximately 21% CAGR over the last 3 years. The company recorded sales of approximately £36 million for the fiscal year ended April 2010.

Under the terms of this agreement, GSK will acquire Maxinutrition’s brands, including Maximuscle, the leading brand in the UK and European sports nutrition market. The deal will extend GSK’s reach into wider categories, complementing its existing Nutritional Healthcare business. GSK will also bring its marketing excellence and R&D innovation capability to extend the growth of Maxinutrition in the UK, European and International markets where the products are available.

Friday, 10 December 2010

MuleBars Kicks Lemon Zinger Now Available

MuleBar Kicks Energy Gel is now available to buy in Lemon Zinger as well as Cherry Bomb flavour.


Here's the lowdown from MuleBar on the new flavour -

High GI sugars from brown rice syrup provide the carbohydrate equivalent of rocket-fuel. Medium-GI sugars (fructose from organic, naturally sourced agave nectar) give a gradual release of energy which is effective for fuelling endurance exercise. Lemon juice and ginger are included as excellent immune- stimulators and potent anti-oxidants. The formula also contains naturally sourced caffeine in the form of guarana, this helps to support cognitive function and may actually help gear-up the body to burn fatty acids as its primary fuel. Hydration is supported by the natural electrolytes in Himalayan crystal salts which provide a full-spectrum of trace minerals.

They're available to buy from our store in 24 Packs or as Single Sachets or you can buy a mixed flavour pack and try both Lemon Zinger and Cherry Bomb flavours.

Mulebar Kicks 24 Pack
Mulebar Kicks Single Pack

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Parcelforce Scotland Deliveries

Due to the continuing adverse weather Parcelforce have been forced to suspend services in Scotland, it appears to mean we'll be unable to ship any parcels to the affected regions until Monday 13th December at the earliest.

Here's the update from Parcelforce -

I’m sure you will have seen details of the current weather across much of Scotland. These conditions mean that we need to take action now to ensure we can deliver the parcels already in our network for these Scottish postcodes, as well as continuing to deliver our normal high levels of service for the rest of the UK where conditions are improving.

The prolonged nature and extreme severity of the weather conditions being experienced across the majority of Scotland are virtually unprecedented this early in the winter and the forecast for next week is for very similar conditions. Whilst we will continue to deliver as many parcels each day as we possibly can, if we accept more parcels for the affected areas it will make recovery from the current position exceedingly difficult.

It is with deep regret that we have taken the unprecedented decision to not accept any parcels for delivery in our Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Aberdeen depots until we are confident that we can guarantee delivery in time for Christmas.

Thursday, 2 December 2010

Press Release: Team Sky hails fantastic British-developed energy gels from CNP

Press Release Date - 1st December 2010

Innovative approach gives cyclists direct involvement in development of sports nutrition products; team looks forward to developing partnership with Manchester-based CNP


Team Sky has had an exciting first season, winning 22 races and stages and learning a lot from its debuts on the Pro Tour and in the Tour de France. The team also has a lot to look forward to in year two with new riders, additional staff and, especially, in the opportunity to build on the enthusiasm that it has generated amongst the public for a British-based road cycling team with the potential to take on the world.

One area the team has focused on is improving performance through marginal gains – whether they be through better technology or by improving riders’ fitness and recovery. A key innovation has been to allow the riders to be directly involved in developing their own sports nutrition products, thanks to the partnership between Team Sky and Manchester-based sports nutrition manufacturer CNP Professional.

Nigel Mitchell is head of nutrition with Team Sky. He explains: “While CNP’s commitment to R&D has put them at the forefront of the sports nutrition industry, their facilities have also allowed our riders to have direct input into the development of new products. We can decide on a new product to develop, then use trials and riders’ feedback to agree the final formulation.”

Mitchell cites CNP’s Pro Energy Gels as an example of this joint product development initiative. “The riders wanted an energy gel that would give them a sustained energy boost,” he says. “Once we had agreed the formula, they tried a range of flavour alternatives until everyone was happy.

“Now we use the gels all the time: they provide just the right energy at exactly the right time. They have been fantastic for Team Sky, giving the riders a crucial marginal gain in performance.”

Working with CNP is giving Team Sky’s riders the chance to create exactly the products they want, so it’s no surprise that they are so enthusiastic about them. “It’s not just the gels,” adds Mitchell. “For example, the CNP Flapjacks are really popular – lots of the riders say they’re best energy bars they’ve ever had.”

Alongside the gels and bars, Team Sky is also using CNPs’ protein shakes, such as Pro Recover. This post-race/training recovery drink is designed to give the body the nutrients and proteins it needs to recuperate after an intense cycling session. Mitchell describes it as a “very useful and convenient way of supplying the quality protein the athlete requires for recovery.”

“The big benefit of working with CNP is the opportunity to develop new ideas,” he adds. “I’m really looking forward to continuing our work together in Team Sky’s second year.”

About CNP

CNP now supplies a wide range of products to Team Sky including protein shakes, nutrition bars and the two energy gels, Pro Energy gel (caffeine-free) and Pro Energy Max gel.

CNP Professional is a leading supplier of sports nutrition supplements including protein shakes, protein bars, creatine supplements, meal replacements, mass gainers, weight loss supplements and post work out shakes, all designed for the ultimate in sports nutrition.

Kerry Kayes, the founder of CNP Professional, is a former national bodybuilding champion. He has been involved in sports nutrition for many years and his dietary expertise has established him as 'the man in the know' to sportspeople worldwide. He advises athletes as varied as premier league footballers, rugby clubs, triathletes, round the world yachting teams, runners, boxers, cyclists and motor sports teams.

Wednesday, 1 December 2010

Latest Delivery Updates

It looks like heavy snowfall is still causing delivery problems in some areas. We've shipped all orders placed up to and including the 30th November and are shipping orders placed today as normal.

Here's the latest service update from Parcelforce on areas that may experience some delivery delays -

Parcelforce Service Update -

Our drivers are again out delivering in areas today where it is safe to do so and are doing their utmost to provide as normal a service as possible.

However the severe weather conditions overnight have caused major disruption to key transport routes, and this has severely impacted our ability to get some parcels that we collected yesterday distributed to the relevant delivery depot. Additionally, the prolonged severe weather in some areas is likely to cause delays to our deliveries today. This covers much of Scotland, the North East of England, East Midlands, Essex and the South East of England (Kent, Surrey and Sussex). This has meant that we have taken the unfortunate decision to suspend our delivery guarantees nationwide for all UK services for today and tomorrow.