Gymshark Founder Ben Francis: From Garage Start-Up to £1bn Valuation

Ben Francis started Gymshark in a garage in 2012 and built it into a unicorn by recruiting fitness creators instead of buying ads. Here is the timeline, the General Atlantic deal, the latest accounts and what founders can take from it.

Gymshark founder Ben Francis was 19 when he started selling gym clothes out of his parents’ garage in 2012. Eight years later the growth equity firm General Atlantic bought a fifth of the business at a valuation of more than £1 billion, and Francis still runs it as chief executive. This is how the brand grew, what the money looks like in its filed accounts, and what other founders can borrow from the playbook.

Where it stands: Gymshark’s revenue rose to 646 million pounds in the year to July 31, 2025, its 13th straight year of growth, but pre-tax profit slid to 7 million pounds as it spent on stores, according to accounts filed at Companies House and reported by FashionUnited. In July 2026, SGI Europe reported Francis was negotiating to buy back part of General Atlantic’s stake.

The Gymshark timeline

Year Milestone
2012 Founded in a garage with a sewing machine and a screen-printer
2015 Sales of £9m; Steve Hewitt hired as CEO
2018 Sales pass £100m
2020 General Atlantic buys 21%; valuation over £1bn
2022 First flagship store, Regent Street, London
2025 Revenue of 646 million pounds; first US stores and Dick’s deal
2026 Talks to buy back part of the 2020 stake

How the Gymshark founder started

Francis founded the business in 2012 at 19, working from his parents’ garage in the Midlands and using sewing lessons from his mother, Retail Gazette reported. The company’s own account describes the starting kit as a sewing machine, a screen-printer and “ambitions we had no right to hold.” His co-founder was Lewis Morgan, TheBusinessDesk.com reported, and Francis later dropped out of Aston University to focus on the brand, according to coverage of the Sunday Times Rich List.

The early growth was fast enough to need professional managers. By early 2015, Retail Gazette said, Gymshark had brought in Steve Hewitt as chief executive and Paul Richardson as executive chairman; TheBusinessDesk.com identified them as a former Reebok commercial director and a former AllSaints co-owner. Sales reached £9m in 2015 and broke £100m three years later, TheBusinessDesk.com reported.

The model: community first, ads second

Gymshark sells its own clothing mainly online, and markets it through people rather than billboards. TheBusinessDesk.com described it as “a company built on attractive brand ambassadors posting flattering photos across social media,” a description that points to athletes and fitness personalities promoting the clothes to their own followers.

Francis has framed it as a rejection of the old retail formula, which he described as making as much product as possible and pushing it into as many stores as possible. The company now says its family of employees, athletes and followers is over 10 million strong, with over 18 million followers on social media and customers in over 200 countries served through 14 online stores.

That approach is close to how creators themselves earn money: attention first, then products. Our explainer on how streamers make money covers the creator side of the same economy, and the Feastables story shows a creator using the reverse route, from channel to product.

Events are part of the spending. In the FY25 results video, Francis said the company keeps investing in community events that “cost our customers nothing,” SGB Media reported.

Funding: the General Atlantic deal

In August 2020, General Atlantic took a 21 per cent stake, and a General Atlantic executive joined the board, Retail Gazette reported. The deal made Gymshark one of fewer than 25 British unicorns since 2001, the outlet said. A unicorn is a private company valued at $1 billion or more.

Reports differ on the exact numbers, so here they are side by side:

Outlet (2020) What it reported
Retail Gazette Valuation over £1 billion
TheBusinessDesk.com $300m (£230m) for 21%; valuation $1.45bn

The deal also rearranged ownership. Francis raised his holding from around two-thirds to over 70 per cent. Co-founder Lewis Morgan received £100m for his remaining stake, five years after he stepped back from day-to-day work, TheBusinessDesk.com reported, and Hewitt kept a 4% holding. Keep in mind that a deal valuation only prices the whole company at one moment; for shareholders who did not sell, it is a paper value, not cash.

What went right, and what costs money now

Right: 13 consecutive years of sales growth, according to the FY25 accounts. Revenue went from over £250 million in the year before the 2020 deal, per Retail Gazette, to 646 million pounds in FY25.

The trade-off: pre-tax profit fell to 7 million pounds in FY25 from 11.9 million in 2024, FashionUnited reported, which the company called intentional. Gymshark began opening stores in 2022 with a Regent Street flagship, SGB Media said, and has since opened in Manchester, Amsterdam and Dubai. In October 2025 it opened its first US store, at Roosevelt Field Mall in New York state, and made Dick’s Sporting Goods its first US wholesale partner, in 12 House of Sport stores, followed by a New York City flagship in December 2025.

Francis defended the trade-off publicly. Founders who are “investing in the long term” and making choices they believe in should “keep doing it; you have my full support,” he said, according to FashionUnited.

Gymshark founder lessons for other builders

  • Own the audience before the shelf space. Gymshark built an online community and sales base for a decade before it opened its first flagship.
  • Hire experience early. Bringing in a seasoned CEO and chairman in 2015 came before the steepest growth.
  • Take outside money on your terms. Francis used the 2020 round to increase, not dilute, his control, and in 2026 was reported to be trying to buy part of it back.
  • Know what profit you are giving up. Store expansion cut pre-tax profit even as sales rose.

The Sunday Times Rich List valued Francis at £726m in its 2025 40 Under 40 table, as published by BusinessCloud, and its 2026 edition named him the richest person under 40 on the list and 191st on the main Rich List, according to Retail Technology Innovation Hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Gymshark?

Ben Francis founded Gymshark in 2012 in his parents’ garage in the English Midlands, Retail Gazette reported, and TheBusinessDesk.com names Lewis Morgan as his co-founder. Francis remains founder and chief executive; Morgan completed his exit in 2020.

Who owns Gymshark?

Francis is the majority owner. After the 2020 General Atlantic deal he held over 70 per cent and General Atlantic 21 per cent, Retail Gazette reported. In July 2026, SGI Europe reported he was negotiating to buy back part of General Atlantic’s stake.

How much is Gymshark worth?

The last disclosed price point is the 2020 General Atlantic deal, which Retail Gazette reported valued Gymshark at over £1 billion and TheBusinessDesk.com put at $1.45bn. We found no newer published transaction value.

How much revenue does Gymshark make?

Revenue was 646 million pounds in the year ended July 31, 2025, up from 603 million pounds a year earlier, according to accounts filed at Companies House and reported by FashionUnited. Pre-tax profit fell to 7 million pounds.

How rich is Ben Francis?

The Sunday Times Rich List valued him at £726m in its 2025 40 Under 40 table, as published by BusinessCloud. Its 2026 edition named him the richest person on that list and 191st on the main Rich List.

Sources

This article is general information for founders and is not accounting, legal or investment advice. Net worth figures are estimates published by the outlets named, on the dates shown. They are not disclosed by the people profiled, they move with markets and private valuations, and different publications reach different numbers. Found Founders is not affiliated with anyone profiled here.