Gymshark says 121 jobs at risk amid global restructuring, but ‘over 100’ to be created

British sportswear brand Gymshark has warned it could cut as many as 121 jobs as it undergoes a restructuring amid its ongoing global expansion.

The fast-growing brand last year announced plans to further expand in the US, which has recently become its biggest market.

As part of its growth strategy, Gymshark founder and CEO Ben Francis announced Thursday that 121 employees could be made redundant before the end of July, but he added that the proposals would see “over 100 new roles being created”.

Francis said the “incredibly difficult decision” was driven by the company’s “ambitious growth plans” as well “the need to create commercial accountability within the regions and ensure customer strategies are driven by local lenses, specific knowledge and data, not just by those of us here in Solihull”.

International ambitions

Gymshark, which was founded by Francis in his parents’ garage in Birmingham in 2012, has been at the forefront of the burgeoning activewear market in recent years.

In 2020, it became just the second British company since 2001 to achieve a valuation of over 1 billion pounds without any prior investment.

In the year to July 2021, the company increased its sales by more than 50 percent to over 400 million pounds, according to the Financial Times.

Last year, the brand said a key focus of its international growth would be its expansion in the US and Asia.

Gymshark opened its first US distribution centres in 2021 and said it expects to see high double-digit growth in the market in the coming years.