The health drink that won a cult following

Stuart Jeffries gave up his marketing job in the glamour industry to focus on making tasty shakes for athletes. Now his company turns over £3m a year - and he's just getting started.

In his jeans and unfussy polo shirt, Stuart Jeffreys, 36, is not your typical businessman. But then the Cambridge maths graduate, and co-founder of sports drink firm For Goodness Shakes, has never been a conformist. Although he worked as a marketing man at L'Oreal for seven years, he never entirely fitted in. "I was quite a grungy boy from Cumbria, whereas L'Oreal was full of these 'eurobabes' from France and Switzerland called Simone and Nicole, with perfect clothes, hair and an interest in high fashion. I knew it wasn't quite me. To be honest I just joined because of the girls."

In 2003 "something snapped. I knew I had to get out." He packed in the job, hitched a rucksack to his bicycle, and spent a couple of months taking part in 100-mile bike races across Europe, something he'd always wanted to do. Nutrition suddenly became important, and he noticed that the protein shakes used by athletes for the recovery stage of each race "tasted like medicine. You never wanted to finish them."

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.