At the age of 19, Ben Francis, an Aston University student who made ends meet working as a Pizza Hut delivery driver, started to sell bodybuilding supplements online. He changed tack when he realised “no one really made clothes for the bodybuilding scene”. So he spent his £1,000 in savings on a sewing machine and screen printer, and learnt how to make garments from his mum, says Liam Kelly in The Times. The business ticked along until, in 2013, Francis (pictured) secured a stand at a trade show at the NEC. Then things really took off: in the first half hour after the show, the Gymshark website took £30,000 in sales.
Gymshark only sells directly to customers online, a strategy that has helped it cope with the coronavirus crisis pretty well. Gyms are closed, but people exercising at home have shopped online to get the clobber to look the part. Gymshark has benefited from that trend. Francis once dashed off designs from his West Midlands home then queued at the Post Office to get them out. Now he operates from a gleaming £5m, 42,000 sq ft premises near Solihull.
Gymshark was one of the first brands to make extensive use of “social-media influencers”. Today, Gymshark has 1.7 million followers on Facebook and 4.2 million on Instagram, and Francis’s girlfriend, Robin Gallant, runs a YouTube channel that advertises his products too, inducting another 400,000 subscribers into the brand’s online culture. “We’ve led the direct-to-consumer revolution and built a truly community-first brand,” writes Francis on his blog. The company made £18.4m in pre-tax profits in the last year, and maintained 193% compound sales growth from 2013 to 2016. Francis himself is not done yet – he has ambitions of rivalling the likes of Nike and Adidas in the coming years.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Francis met Paul Richardson, the firm’s head of strategy, at his gym, and through him was introduced to the former Reebok boss Steve Hewitt, who is now chief executive. Francis still controls design and marketing. His stake in the firm has seen him amass a £138m fortune before he turns 30, but he insists he is not flash. His only extravagance is a pair of Triumph motorbikes.
-
Gold’s allure and why you should never 'pay a premium for graded coins'It is easy to become distracted by the beauty of gold, but remember why you buy it, says Dominic Frisby
-
A rebound in UK's commercial property – should you invest?UK commercial property's three-year bear market finally appears to be over, says Max King
-
'Rachel Reeves' plan to force pension funds into UK assets won't work'Opinion Hustling pension fund cash into British assets sounds like a good idea. It would be better to make Britain an attractive place to invest, says Matthew Lynn
-
Supersonic travel: How China could 'leapfrog' US and Europe's commercial aviation industryOpinion Innovation in commercial aviation has been stuck for 60 years. A commercial supersonic jet might be back on the market soon, but will China get there first?
-
How British businesses can tackle Trump's tariffsThe majority of British businesses are likely to take a hit from the chaos caused by Trump’s tariffs to reorder global trade. Companies in the firing line face some difficult decisions, says David Prosser
-
Trump wants to colonise Mars – will it happen?Donald Trump wants to plant the US flag on Mars. Could humans really live there?
-
Why are energy bills so expensive in the UK?Electricity bills in the UK are higher than in any comparable rich country. Some blame the net-zero zealotry of the government for that. What is really to blame for high energy bills?
-
Will Putin invade Europe? Why investors know Russia is a paper tigerOpinion Markets are right to ignore talk of Putin invading Europe, says Max King.
-
Why French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for officeMarine Le Pen, presidential candidate and leader of France's right-wing National Rally party, has been barred from standing by the country's judges.
-
Five years on: what did Covid cost us?We’re still counting the costs of the global coronavirus pandemic – and governments’ responses. What did we learn?
