Pizza boy to billionaire Gymshark boss Ben Francis says the UK is an 'amazing' place to do business
28 April 2023, 08:45 | Updated: 28 April 2023, 13:59
Britain's youngest billionaire, the boss of fitness brand Gymshark, has told LBC the UK is an "amazing" place to do business and he wouldn't give up his job for anything.
Ben Francis, 30, is the founder and CEO of Gymshark. He told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast this morning he sees the UK as a great place to do business in the long term.
He said: "Starting a business is incredibly difficult, however I feel fortunate and blessed to have grown up in the UK.
"We’ve got a great economy, you can sell to lots of people in a small condensed area, we can ship next day into Europe, we can ship quickly into the United States.
Britain's youngest billionaire: UK is a brilliant place for business
"I think that the UK, despite what a lot of people are saying at the moment, is an absolutely brilliant place to do business."
"On becoming a billionaire at the age of 30, he said he wouldn’t want to stop work to ‘put his feet up’.
“I’ve got the best job in the world. I love what I do every day, I work with amazing people and I’ve got a once in a lifetime opportunity to work at the head of an amazing brand.
"I love what I do - I wouldn’t give this up."
Gymshark began giving free clothing to weightlifting influencers on social media, before eventually embarking on a guerrilla marketing campaign that relied on paying small amounts to fitness stars with online followings to wear Gymshark clothes in their videos – which caused profits to boom
As Gymshark continued to grow, in 2018 the brand opened its headquarters in Solihull. In 2020 the firm was valued at $1.45billion.
In 2022, Gymshark opened its first permanent flagship store on Regent Street, London
