Gymshark chief brands UK ‘a great place to do business’ as firm eyes expansion
Despite much criticism about the UK’s high level of corporation tax and struggling capital markets, the boss of sportswear brand Gymshark said today the Britain is a “great place to do business.”
Asked by LBC’s Nick Ferrari, how easy is it to start and to grow a business in the UK, chief executive Ben Francis said that while its tough, the UK is a fantastic place to grow a company.
“I would start off by caveating and saying that starting a business is incredibly difficult, and it’s certainly the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he said.
“I think that the UK is a great place to do business because of the great infrastructure that we’ve got,” he said.
“However… I feel so fortunate and blessed to have grown up in the UK because we’ve got a great economy. You can sell to lots of people in a very small condensed area. We can ship next day into Europe. We can ship quickly into the United States,” Francis said.
“So I actually think the UK, despite I think what a lot of people are saying at the moment, is an absolutely brilliant place to do business,”
“I think there’s lots of iconic brands here… I think other countries are excited to buy into British brands,” Francis added.
Based in the West Midlands Gymshark was started by Francis in 2012. He stepped down as chief executive in 2015, before returning to the helm in 2021.
The company has expanded rapidly, mainly through online stores, but the brand opened its first physical store on London’s Regent Street in October last year.
“As we got into Covid… stores were cheaper than what they were prior to Covid. And we thought there was a big opportunity for us to step into the offline market then, and we signed the lease and we opened late last year,” Francis said on the move.
Looking ahead to the future, he said: “I think we have to look into omni channel… the opportunity for stores down the road… and I think we just need to continue to focus on growing our core business.”
The chief executive’s comments come as more brands are gradually pushing for a bricks-and-mortar presence post-pandemic.
The group of entrepreneurs, which also included top dogs from crowdfunding firm Seedrs and food-sharing app Olio, called on the government to fill the void left by ‘Pitch at the Palace’: a start-up competition spearheaded by Prince Andrew and cancelled during the pandemic.
Music and entertainment giant HMV recently announced it would reopen its flagship London store on Oxford Street after shutting it in 2019.
“We are also opening stores in Europe this year, so while it is the culmination of one phase of work, more excitingly we see it as the launchpad for an exciting new era for HMV,” owner Doug Putman said.
Fashion store Uniqlo also said London was the place to be, following the opening of its latest store in Covent Garden this week.