Entrepreneurs: GP Nutrition founder has hunger to help the stressed out

Peacock explains: “A lot of other nutritionists are very restrictive, banning certain foods, but that’s just not sustainable. People living in London are super busy, stressed, running around non stop. So instead I have goal-focused products, aimed at things like healthy weight loss, immunity or better sleep, with supplements in sachets that you can put in your handbag or washbag and make life easier.”

The 40-year-old’s first career was modelling: she left her home near Prague aged 15 and went on to travel across Europe and Africa in the fashion industry, “being given an awful diet advice like ‘just eat green beans all the time and you’re going to lose weight’.”

She continues: “I think the industry has since changed quite a lot, but in the old days it was extremely irresponsible. When I moved to London in 2000, I was ready to do something else in my life and studied [health science] at the University of Westminster.”

After graduating and starting to work as a nutritionist, Peacock met the Queen’s GP, Sir Tim Evans, at a society party and joined his celebrity-packed medical centre, Grace Belgravia. “Working in a clinic, made me realise there was a gap in the market for really good, high-quality nutritional supplements that actually delivered results and were convenient to take.”

Peacock worked with a supplements manufacturer, as well as a chemist, for almost three years to hone her original range of four supplements.

They first went on sale in Selfridges, followed swiftly by Harvey Nichols, Harrods, and Fortnum & Mason. “That was amazing for the brand launch but not for margins, so I’ve now moved most of retail back to the website,” Peacock explains. “At the start of this year, we launched in the US, in [upmarket New York department store] Barneys, as we need the brand recognition. For ingestibles, people need to trust us.”

Peacock has now hired a CEO, Alex Theophanous, who founded children’s fashion website Alexandalexa.com, to push GP Nutrition’s e-commerce business and American launch. “The size of the market and interest in supplements means it’s a huge part of our hopes for growth. We’re also working on new product lines,” she adds. GP Nutrition will this month launch a crowdfunding pursuit of £750,000 via Crowdcube to pay for overseas expansion.

Sounds like Peacock’s about to get even busier: the royals and celebs might have to start booking their appointments in advance.

Founded: 2016

Staff: Six

Revenues: £2 million

Business idol: Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet, “a fashion and e-commerce visionary who became the embodiment of a retail revolution — I am aiming high with this business”.