Seventeen-year-old George Greenhill established Protein Package in 2017 at his parents’ home in Wolverhampton while still at Sixth Form College in Stourbridge. The online platform – which ships mix and match snack orders sourced from all over the world directly to the customer – was started with a mere investment of £300, and has today grown into a business that recently moved into new commercial premises to support its burgeoning growth.
At the same time as completing his business degree at Aston University, Greenhill steadily grew the business, which really took off in 2020 owing to an increase in online consumer habits during the pandemic. This has resulted in the need for a bigger warehouse to hold more inventory and office space to fulfil customer orders, which Protein Package found in Bridgnorth.
Hard work pays off
“When I was 17, the football team I played for disbanded, so I turned my attention to the gym and keeping active. I started to invest in protein bars to support my training but found that a lot of them were really expensive – sometimes the cost of a whole meal deal. The alternative was to purchase a month’s supply, which meant I was left eating the same flavour for ages,” said Greenhill.
“I saw an opportunity to set up an online business where customers could select from a variety of products from different brands and decide on their own quantities.”
Greenhill approached Barclays, a British universal bank, to get going.
“I knew nothing about setting up a business account, and their local business manager was very helpful in getting me started. The business really took off in 2020 as more people were turning to online ordering during the pandemic. This coincided with my final year at Uni, which was a bit challenging at times but I was lucky enough to secure a First Class degree.”
Four years on and Protein Package is projected to turn over £1m in this financial year. Greenhill has also taken on his first Kickstarter apprentice, with the backing from the UK government’s plan to support young people after the pandemic.
Thomas Perry, business manager at Barclays in Wolverhampton, said, “George identified a gap in the market. You have to admire his drive and I wish him every success for the future.”
Greenhill has high hopes for 2022 and is planning to introduce an extended product range and further exclusive brand collaborations like he has recently done with Optimum Nutrition to bring GFUEL Energy to the UK market.
