Ben Francis
Founder of activewear brand Gymshark, pioneer of influencer marketing
“ Fuck standing on the sideline. Fuck injustice. Fuck racism.” Where some brands virtue-signalled vaguely in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Gymshark spoke out, donating $125,000 to Black Lives Matter and committing to driving change via its channels. A “red thread” of community runs through the UK sportswear company, says founder Ben Francis, fresh of face at 28. “We’re superinclusive, super-caring, supertransparent.”
And unlike the older, clunkier competitors that it’s circling, the spandex predator is “extremely agile”. At the start of lockdown, it deftly changed its social media handles to “Homeshark” to remind its fam that: “This ain’t no joke.” That nimbleness is despite Britain’s fastest-growing fashion label swelling into a £500m megalodon based in Solihull in just eight years. The 500-plus staff also has outposts in Denver, Hong Kong and Mauritius. With no high-street stores, traditional advertising or outside investment, social media has turbo-charged the expansion of Gymshark, which Francis started in his parents’ garage when he was 19, while studying business and management at Aston University by day and working at Pizza Hut by night.
“I wish I could tell you that it was this master plan,” says Francis. As a 16-year-old, he was inspired to join a gym by fitness YouTubers. So, when he and friends began hand-sewing and screen-printing their own clothing, more tapered than traditional bodybuilder apparel, sending samples to their online idols seemed only fitting. Francis has a big vision, too: “I want us to create the greatest community, and I want us to be the greatest fitness brand on the planet.”