Benjamin David Francis (born 4 June 1992) is a British businessman. He is the co-founder, CEO and majority owner of

Gymshark Gymshark Ltd is a British multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in Solihull, England. Founded in June 2012 by Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan, the company was initially focused on selling fitness supplements, before distributing its ...

, a fitness apparel and accessories company founded in 2012. With a stake of over 70% in Gymshark which is currently valued by investors at $1.45 billion, Francis had a net worth of $1.3 billion as of April 2023. In April 2023, he made his debut on ''Forbes' ''annual

The World's Billionaires ''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking of people who are billionaires, i.e., they are considered to have a net worth of US$1 billion or more, by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March 1987. ...

list as the 2,259th richest person in the world.

Early life

Benjamin David Francis was born in the West Midlands, England in 1992 and grew up in

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He attended

South Bromsgrove High School South Bromsgrove High School (SBHS) is a co-educational, upper school and sixth form with Academy (English school), academy status, located in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. It is located opposite the housing estate of Charford. The school ...

. He first became interested in computing after studying IT at school. His first business was an online company that sold car number plates. Francis started going to the gym as a teenager. He later said "the structure, consistency and work ethic I found in the gym I realised, could be applied to different areas of my life and it would work." In 2010, he enrolled at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

for international business and management wherein he had "a strong foundation on which to build a business." He

dropped out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...

in 2012.

Career

Before launching Gymshark, Francis developed two fitness

applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

, Fat Loss Abs Guide and . While at university between 2010 and 2013, he worked for

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...

as a delivery boy earning £5 an hour. He left six months after launching Gymshark.

Gymshark

In 2012, at 19, he launched

in his parents' garage with school friend Lewis Morgan. The website initially sold fitness supplements. Unable to afford to buy stock or secure distribution deals with supplement suppliers, he began dropshipping supplies from other vendors and it took him six weeks to make his first sale. In 2013, branching out from supplements, Francis began designing and selling fitness apparel on Gymshark's website. He began manufacturing the products from his parents' garage in Bromsgrove, using a

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

and screen printer he bought with £1,000 of savings. He learned how to sew from his grandmother. In 2013, he exhibited Gymshark's products at the BodyPower fitness

trade show A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. After the trade show ended, a tracksuit went viral on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, generating £30,000 in sales within 30 minutes. Francis later left university and quit his job at Pizza Hut to focus on the company full-time. As a start-up, Francis marketed the brand through partnering with

social media influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...

s, including body builders Nikki Blackketter and Lex Griffin. Gymshark was one of the first brands to make extensive use of social media influencers. In 2015, Francis stepped down as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the company to become

chief marketing officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a chief brand officer (CBO), is a C-suite corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. The CMO leads brand management, marketing communications (including adver ...

chief brand officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a chief brand officer (CBO), is a C-suite corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. The CMO leads brand management, marketing communications (including adver ...

and

chief product officer A chief product officer (CPO), sometimes known as head of product or VP of product, is a corporate title referring to an executive responsible for various product-related activities in an organization. The CPO is to the business's product what th ...

. At the time, he said the move would allow the company "to grow even more quickly" and give him time to "work on my weaknesses and become a more rounded businessperson". In 2018, Gymshark opened a new £5 million headquarters in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, West Midlands. In 2019, Gymshark opened its own branded gym and innovation hub. Since 2016, Gymshark has been listed on ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

Fast Track'' of fast-growing private companies. The company currently sells products in 131 countries. In August 2020, Gymshark sold a 21% stake to US

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm

General Atlantic General Atlantic, legal main entity General Atlantic Service Company, L.P., (also known as "GA") is an American growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York, United States. T ...

in a deal which valued the company in excess of £1 billion. Francis currently owns more than 70% of the company, which is worth £700 million. In August 2021, he returned to the role of the company's CEO. In 2018, Francis was included on the

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...

list. In 2019, Francis served on the UK Government's Business Council for Entrepreneurs. In 2020, Francis was awarded the EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Francis was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to the business sector.

Personal life

Francis is a car and motorcycle enthusiast, and a season ticket holder at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He and his girlfriend Robin Gallant became engaged in April 2021, and married on 9 September 2021. On 8 September 2022, Francis announced that they were expecting twins. Their twin sons were born on 24 December 2022. In July 2024, the couple announced that they were expecting another child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Ben Living people British online retailer founders Alumni of Aston University People from Bromsgrove Members of the Order of the British Empire 1992 births