Health food sale makes Wilkie a winner once again

David Wilkie, the Olympic Gold medallist and former swimming world record holder, yesterday added financial success to his achievements, pocketing nearly £7m from selling his complementary medicine business.

David Wilkie, the Olympic Gold medallist and former swimming world record holder, yesterday added financial success to his achievements, pocketing nearly £7m from selling his complementary medicine business.

Mr Wilkie, who won a gold medal at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, set up a vitamins and health food supplements business 11 years ago after his professional sporting career came to an end. Yesterday he agreed to sell Health Perception to William Ransom, an independent pharmaceuticals business, for £7.8m.

Ransom will pay Mr Wilkie £4.32m in cash and the remaining £3.5m in shares. But despite his new found wealth, Mr Wilkie will not be leaving the business. He and his wife Helen Isacson, who is the marketing director, have signed contracts to stay on for at least two years. They will still run Health Perception, which will operate as an autonomous unit of Ransom.

"It is pretty much business as usual for me, although I do have a few more bob in the bank," he said.

Mr Wilkie was regarded by many in his early swimming days as a "slacker" who avoided training. His silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 1972 Olympics in Munich came as a surprise, but he then went on to win the gold in 1976 with a world-record time.

"I could have gone and sat on a beach for the rest of my life, but having spent so much of my life training, I think I'd get pretty bored," he said yesterday. "Nothing can compare to the achievement of getting a gold medal, but I've not done too badly in business either."

Ransom wants to capitalise on the growing demand for complementary medicines in the UK. Mr Wilkie, who still swims competitively, says more people are looking for healthier lifestyles and do not always want medical prescriptions. His business supplies high street chains such as Boots, Superdrug, Tesco and Sainsbury. Sales since 1999 have grown at 28 per cent a year.