As Design Tonic ramps up its work with some of the country’s biggest football teams, its co-founder tells Michael Crossland how teams are now designing stadiums to win over players.
Published 14th Oct 2026, 11:45 BST
At the end of each football season, when the final whistle blows, many of those in the industry will see their jobs as coming to a close. But for one Yorkshire company, the blow of the final whistle marks the start of the most busy period of the year.
Leeds-based interior design firm Design Tonic, and the company’s subsidiary DT Sports, have over the last few years undertaken work for some of the country’s biggest football teams, with facilities including upmarket bars and eating spaces.
But as well as designing spaces for fans, Design Tonic has also recently been designing highly specific spaces for players.
And the sector is growing.
According to company co-founder, Amanda Cook, the firm is increasingly seeing clubs install facilities at their stadiums to court specific players, with high-tech facilities including cryogenic baths and red light saunas.
Having first launched in 2019, the company is now set to hit turnover of around £20m this year, boosted by a string of major contracts for big name clubs as well as its work in the office sector.
“The business was launched by myself and my business partner, Joe Darcy,” says Cook. “We both work together at another company doing the same thing, and as you do, you get to a certain point in your career, and you think, you know what, it's worth giving this a go. So that's exactly what we did, and we had a really cracking first year, and actually Leeds United were one of the clients that immediately came with us.”
While the pandemic would cause issues for many companies launching at the same time as Design Tonic, it presented a major opportunity for a company whose work requires workplaces to be empty.
“We had started a business that's predominantly designing and fitting out offices, and it was at a time when nobody wants to go to an office or can't go to an office,” says Cook.
“At first we thought, ‘oh well, we had a good year’, but actually a lot of clients decided it would be a good time to look at the space and refresh it or rejig it.
“We grew the Covid years, and then it's just been a consistent growth from then until today.”
As Design Tonic has grown, the company has gone on to work on some of Yorkshire’s biggest schemes.
This includes the company working on two large fit outs at Leeds city centre’s major Aire Park scheme.
The firm has also set its sights on stepping into the education sector, with certification expected early next year.
Following its launch in 2019, Design Tonic would go on to launch its sport-specific arm, titled DT Sport, in 2024.
The launch came on the back of the company having undertaken work for Leeds United.
“We've got great connections around the city, but on the back of Leeds United, we realised there's a real market in sports hospitality,” says Cook.
“Particularly on the back of Covid, where we found that people might not want to buy designer goods, but actually, they want to create experiences.
“The hospitality side of things, particularly in sports, has become a massive growth area, where people are willing to pay a bit more for a great day out.”
Since the launch of DT Sport, the company has undertaken work for some of the country’s biggest sporting names, including Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool FC, and now Everton, creating bespoke spaces for both fans and players.
The company’s work for Everton includes a soon-to-start new restaurant in the club’s grounds.
Closer to home in Leeds, DT Sport has undertaken work for both Leeds United and Leeds Rhinos, including the presidential suite, chairman suite and reception boardroom at Elland Road.
This Summer, operating in a short 12-week window, the company also delivered a new 20,000sq ft temporary hospitality marquee at Elland Road while plans for the redevelopment of the site’s West Stand progress.
As DT Sport continues to get more work, Cook and the team are also noticing that requests from clubs and managers are becoming more and more niche, with clubs also installing specific facilities to try and court new players.
“When Marcelo Bielsa was at Leeds, I worked directly with him,” she says. He wanted to be able to sleep at the training ground, so we did an apartment. We did his sleep pods. Arteta was also heavily involved in the players' areas at Arsenal, because its about saying ‘look at what we've got’.
“We've just done the training ground up at Leeds, and there's ice baths or cryogenic baths, there's saunas, there's plunge pulls. You know, it's about the courting the players. We're dealing with Everton at the minute, and they're talking about areas that they'd like in the ground. As somebody who doesn't play football, I look and think, ‘wow, your facilities are fantastic’.
“But they're looking for much more these days. The focus is slightly coming back from the training to be about well-being as well. It's about the recovery journey, and being able to give the right nutrition.”
Having only launched around seven years ago, and despite well-documented headwinds in the construction sector, Design Tonic is aiming to reach £30m in turnover within the next three years.
And though Dt Sport is seeing increasing demand, a tight schedule, Cook notes, is something the company always has to work with, fitting in its projects in the period between the football seasons.
“Every season, every time that final whistle goes, we're back on site delivering projects in that window,” says Cook. “It's quite an intense build time. Because you can't miss that first game, of course.
“Theres also the odd friendly thrown in, or European game. You're at the mercy of schedules, so it's an intense summer for us.”