Ben Francis

Ben Francis is an acclaimed British businessman, renowned as the Founder and CEO of Gymshark – a fitness clothing and accessories enterprise. Created back in 2012, Gymshark has grown into a billion-pound organisation, with Ben at its helm, placing Ben on the Forbes World Billionaires list and the company on the Sunday Times Fast Track list of growing private companies. When he is not pioneering fitness apparel, Ben can be found sharing his journey to success as an entrepreneur in keynote speeches globally. 

Before building the Gymshark enterprise, Ben began his career as an entrepreneur through the development of the Fat Loss Abs Guide and iPhysique, two fitness applications. From then on, Ben’s passion for fitness blossomed, and in 2012, at the age of 19, he founded Gymshark from the humble beginnings of his parents’ garage. Initially selling fitness supplements, Ben first embarked into fitness apparel after purchasing a sewing machine and screen printer, showcasing his work at a tradeshow in Birmingham. Since then, Ben’s business has grown in scale, now a global enterprise making trade in 131 countries worldwide. Ben’s versatility as a businessman was proven in 2015, after he stepped down as the company CEO momentarily to experience the roles of Chief Brand Officer, Chief Product Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of Gymshark. 

Returning to the role of CEO in 2021, Ben continues to lead the fitness apparel giant. In honour of his success as an entrepreneur, Ben was named the EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 and was appointed MBE for Services to the Business Sector in 2023. Aside from his commitments to Gymshark, Ben is also a Charity Patron of the Birmingham Women’s & Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and was formerly a member of the UK Government’s Business Council for Entrepreneurs. From being one of the first brands to extensively use influencers in the marketing of their products to opening a £5 million headquarters, Ben is always searching for ways in which he can grow, scale and innovate business – qualities that make him highly sought after as a keynote speaker. 

When hired as a keynote speaker, Ben shares his iconic journey from garage start-up to billion-pound enterprise. Delivering actionable takeaways on achieving business success, Ben has previously shared his inspirational story as an entrepreneur on The Diary of a CEO, discussing “How I Built a $1.5 Billion Business at 19”. In addition, Ben also starred alongside Steven Bartlett for British GQ Heroes, discussing “The Power of Social Media”. If you are looking for an entrepreneur with an inspirational story of business growth and scale, don’t miss your opportunity to hire Ben Francis today!