Ben Francis

Ben Francis founded Gymshark in 2012 while still a student at Aston University. Since then, in a market dominated by Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, he has mastered product and marketing to build a multimillion-pound fitness brand.

This summer, Francis unveiled the brand’s new £5m studio and fitness centre at its Solihull headquarters. The 55,000 sq ft space includes a state-of-the-art gym, 100-person auditorium, research and development factory, and photography studios.

Gymshark has grown into a global brand, and made £18.1m in profit last year on sales of £103.2m across 178 countries. After opening its custom-built 42,000 sq ft UK headquarters last year, in September it opened its first US office in Denver.