Hove entrepreneur supplies Team GB’s Olympic athletes with reusable water bottles

Founder Heather Nicholson (left) and Sussex athlete Beth Kidger with one of the bottles

An entrepreneur whose microbusiness started out as a side-hustle from her Hove bedroom is now suppling Team GB’s Olympic stars with her resuable stainless steel water bottles.

Heather Nicholson, the founder of One Green Bottle, has provided 2,000 bottles to athletes going for gold at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

The former industrial chemist started her firm in 2005 when her son, Sam, was in nursery.

Well aware of the dangers that plastic bottles posed to his health because of the way that chemical compounds can leach into the liquids they hold, she began importing stainless steel bottles from Asia.

One Green Bottle founder Heather Nicholson

Demand for the bottles grew, and since the business became her main income stream in 2016, the firm has grown to reach sales of more than 120,000 units a year.

Heather said: “The success and growth of One Green Bottle has been really gratifying, particularly what we’ve achieved in the last few years.

“I do feel like we were ahead of our time, launching in 2005 as a business with a social conscience, and that things have really started to take off since the world became more aware of the dangers that plastics pose to the environment and to consumers.”

Heather is also a passionate supporter of the plastic reduction charity, Ocean Generation, and provides free bottles as part of their educational programme for young people.

Sussex athlete Beth Kidger with one of the bottles. Photo by Drew Buckler

As a supplier to the athletes during the Games, One Green Bottle has also teamed up with GoDaddy – the official domain name, website builder and website hosting partner for Team GB – for a new SEO and digital marketing campaign to help grow awareness of the business even further.