Gymshark

Gymshark is a British fitness clothing and accessories brand.[3]

Gymshark
IndustryApparel
Accessories
Sports equipment
Athleisure
Founded2012 (2012)
FoundersBen Francis
Lewis Morgan
HeadquartersSolihull, England[1]
Key people
Ben Francis (founder)[2]
ProductsSportswear
Fitness fashion
Websitegymshark.com

History

Gymshark was set up in 2012 by Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan when they were 19 years old.[4][5] [6]When Gymshark’s revenue reached £250,000[7][8] Francis and Morgan both dropped out of university to focus on Gymshark. The company was named the UK's fastest growing company in 2016[9] in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100.

In August 2020, US private equity firm General Atlantic purchased a 21% stake in the company, taking the valuation of the company in excess of £1 billion. Following this, the company announced that it would be pushing forward with global expansion plans.[5]

Locations

Gymshark's head office is at Blythe Valley Park in Shirley, West Midlands.[10]

Gymshark also has an office in Hong Kong,[11] and in 2019 the company opened its North American office in downtown Denver.[12]

Products

Gymshark sells fitness apparel for men and women[13] including workout vests, hoodies, t-shirts and leggings.[14]

Controversy

Black Friday 2017 saw Gymshark's website crash for eight hours, causing customers to take to Twitter to complain to the company. The site crash cost Gymshark an estimated $143,000 in lost sales. Francis sent over 2,500 handwritten apologies to customers affected by the website crash.[15]

References
  1. "How Gymshark grew by 200%+ year on year and hit £41M in sales (Updated 2019)". Beeketing.
  2. "Ben Francis". Forbes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. "Gymshark sportswear brand looks to raise investment". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. "Former student's sportswear business is booming". Aston University. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  5. Thomas, Daniel (14 August 2020). "Clothing brand Gymshark becomes UK's newest £1bn start-up". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. TWK. "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  7. Kelly, Liam. "Gymshark tilts at Nike and Adidas". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  8. "The 26-year-old with a £100m sportswear brand". BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  9. "Gymshark predicts £100m sales this year, new HQ to drive fast staff expansion". Fashion Network. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  10. "New Solihull HQ for sportswear brand Gymshark". BusinessLive. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  11. "Gymshark – Hong Kong". Oktra. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  12. "Gymshark Opens North American Headquarters In Denver". SGB Media. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  13. "Gymshark takes a bite of the sportswear market". Drapers. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  14. "Fast Track Gymshark Company Details". Fast Track. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  15. "Holiday Disaster to a $128M Global Brand: Behind Gymshark's Multi-Channel Empire". Shopify. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
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