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

Gymshark Gymshark is a British fitness apparel and accessories brand, manufacturer and retailer headquartered in Solihull, England. Founded in June 2012, Gymshark creates and distributes its own range of fitness wear. In 2020, the company was valued at o ...

, 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 by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...

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

Early life

Benjamin David Francis was born in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, England in 1992 and grew up in

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

. He attended

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

. 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 studied international business and management at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research 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 c ...

. He has said his time at university gave him "a strong foundation on which to build a business". He dropped out in 2012 to focus on Gymshark full-time.

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 c ...

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

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...

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

Gymshark

In 2012, aged 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 Drop shipping is a form of retail business where the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufacture ...

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 A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the inv ...

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 fair, also known as trade show, 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 cu ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. After the trade show ended, a tracksuit went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, 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 An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

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 central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the company to become

chief marketing officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...

chief brand officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...

and

chief product officer A chief product officer (CPO), sometimes known as head 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 the CTO is to techno ...

. 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 (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

, 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 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 News UK, whi ...

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 In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm

General Atlantic General Atlantic (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. The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for ...

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 of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established 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 celebration ...

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 is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. 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.

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