Gymshark
 | |
| Industry | Apparel Accessories Sports equipment Athleisure |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Solihull, England[1] |
Key people | Ben Francis (founder)[2] |
| Products | Sportswear Fitness fashion |
| Website | gymshark.com |
Gymshark is a British fitness clothing and accessories brand.[3]
History
Gymshark was set up in 2012 by Ben Francis when he was 19 years old.[4][5] When Gymshark’s revenue reached £250,000[6] Francis dropped out of college to focus on Gymshark. The company was named the UK's fastest growing company in 2016[7] 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.[8]
Gymshark also has an office in Hong Kong,[9] and in 2019 the company opened its North American office in downtown Denver.[10]
Products
Gymshark sells fitness apparel for men and women[11] including workout vests, hoodies, t-shirts and leggings.[12]
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.[13]
References
- ^ "How Gymshark grew by 200%+ year on year and hit £41M in sales (Updated 2019)". Beeketing.
- ^ "Ben Francis". Forbes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "Gymshark sportswear brand looks to raise investment". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Former student's sportswear business is booming". Aston University. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ a b Thomas, Daniel (14 August 2020). "Clothing brand Gymshark becomes UK's newest £1bn start-up". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ "The 26-year-old with a £100m sportswear brand". BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Gymshark predicts £100m sales this year, new HQ to drive fast staff expansion". Fashion Network. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "New Solihull HQ for sportswear brand Gymshark". BusinessLive. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Gymshark – Hong Kong". Oktra. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Gymshark Opens North American Headquarters In Denver". SGB Media. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Gymshark takes a bite of the sportswear market". Drapers. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Fast Track Gymshark Company Details". Fast Track. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- ^ "Holiday Disaster to a $128M Global Brand: Behind Gymshark's Multi-Channel Empire". Shopify. Retrieved 19 January 2020.