AN East Lancashire sports firm that supplies some of the world’s top athletes has announced a hike in sales.

Science in Sport (SiS), which was based at Brockhall Village before moving its manufacturing and product development hub to Nelson, said sales for the past six months were up 23 per cent compared to the same period last year, and said they topped £4.92 million.

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The firm, which is fronted by gold medal winning Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, said it had benefited from deals with supermarkets, including an ‘expanded distribution agreement’ with Sainsbury’s.

Speaking at the company’s AGM in London yesterday, chairman John Clarke said: “We have successfully delivered on our strategy of driving the sales growth of the SiS brand through consistent investment in marketing and selling, supporting this with a strong new product development pipeline and underpinning commercial progress with improving margin from our own low-cost manufacturing facility.

“We have enjoyed sales growth in all distribution channels and have successfully extended the footprint of the business through significant investment in geographic expansion and e-commerce.”

He continued: “We are pleased to report another period of strong sales growth in the six months to September 30, 2014, with sales up 23 per cent compared with the same period last year at approximately £4.92 million.

“This growth reflects strong sales across our whole product range and across all our sales channels.”

SiS develops, manufactures and markets sports nutrition products, such as energy powder, isotonic gels, and energy bars.

It is the official supplier to several big names in sport, including GB Rowing Team.

Tennis star Andy Murray was also spotted using their products on his way to victory at Wimbledon in 2013.