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Case study · Gymshark

How two university friends grew Gymshark from a garage into a business valued at over £1 billion

TL;DR

Gymshark began in 2012 as two friends dropshipping supplements, then moved into making its own fitness clothing in a family garage. By leaning on social media and a loyal fitness community, it reached a 2020 deal with General Atlantic that valued it at about £1.25 billion. The lesson is to start with what you can sell now and move to a product you control as soon as you learn what your customers want.

How it started

Ben Francis was a university student who also worked as a Pizza Hut delivery driver. He launched Gymshark in 2012 with his school friend Lewis Morgan. The first version of the business was not clothing at all. It sold bodybuilding supplements through a website, and because Francis had no money to buy stock, he dropshipped products from other vendors. His first sale reportedly took about six weeks.

In 2013 he started designing and making his own apparel. He bought a sewing machine and a screen printer with £1,000 of savings and made garments in his parents’ garage, producing them to order. In its first year the business made roughly £500 a day in sales.

The pivot is the useful part. Dropshipping let him learn who the customers were and what they wanted without carrying inventory. Once he knew, he made a product he controlled.

How they got the first customers

Gymshark’s first customers were people who already cared about lifting and bodybuilding, reached through social media. At the BodyPower fitness trade show at the NEC in Birmingham in 2013, the company sold out of its stock on the first day.

A tracksuit then went viral on Facebook, generating £30,000 in sales within 30 minutes. When revenue reached £250,000, Francis and Morgan left university to work on the company full time.

What drove growth

Gymshark’s main growth engine was influencer marketing in a community the founders belonged to. By 2020 it was working with about 125 influencers. Its first modest collection was made with one of them.

In August 2020 the private equity firm General Atlantic bought a 21% stake for £275 million, valuing Gymshark at £1.25 billion according to Wikipedia’s summary of press reports. In 2019 the company had opened an office in Hong Kong and a members-focused space in Solihull, and in 2022 it opened its first permanent store on Regent Street in London. Wikipedia reports 2025 revenue of £646 million.

Lessons you can copy

  1. 1Test demand before you build the productDropshipping supplements cost Francis almost nothing and taught him who bought. You can borrow someone else’s inventory to learn before you make your own.
  2. 2Make to order when cash is tightGarments were made on a made-to-sell basis, so the founders were not stuck with unsold stock. Limited runs also help create urgency.
  3. 3Be part of the community you sell toThe founders were gym-goers themselves. That made it natural to work with fitness influencers and to show up at a fitness trade show.
  4. 4Use events and drops to concentrate demandSelling out on day one at BodyPower and a 30-minute spike on a single product show how concentrated attention can create momentum.
  5. 5Keep control of your equityGymshark grew largely without outside investors until 2020. Francis still holds a majority stake of over 70%, per Wikipedia.

Frequently asked questions

Did Gymshark start by making clothes?

No. It began as a website that dropshipped bodybuilding supplements and moved into making its own apparel in 2013.

How did Gymshark get its first customers?

Through social media, fitness influencers and the BodyPower trade show, where it sold out of stock on the first day in 2013.

How much was Gymshark worth in 2020?

General Atlantic bought a 21% stake for £275 million in August 2020, which valued the company at about £1.25 billion.

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