Gymshark’s leadership reset, with a new technology chief alongside a founder’s move to buy back equity, shows Ben Francis consolidating both capital and operational control as the brand bets its next growth phase on stores over an IPO.
Gymshark’s appointment of Shaun Perkinson as chief technology officer is more than a routine executive reshuffle. It is part of a broader consolidation drive by founder Ben Francis, who is simultaneously working to regain ownership from a private equity investor while investing in physical retail.
Perkinson, who starts immediately, succeeds John Douglas, who has led Gymshark’s technology function since 2021 and is retiring. Perkinson joins from the chief technology officer role at Al Waha Travel Retail, a Saudi travel retail subsidiary of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, where they spent about ten months. Before that, Perkinson held the same title for five years at British clothing retailer Boden (2019–2024).
Francis credited Perkinson with “commercial instinct and collaborative approach” alongside more than two decades in product and technology leadership, framing the hire as central to Gymshark’s “next stage of growth.”
The appointment is Gymshark’s second senior hire this year, following Carly Natalizia’s arrival as chief commercial officer in February. More significantly, Francis is negotiating to buy back part of the 21% stake General Atlantic acquired in 2020, as SGIE reported. General Atlantic retains a board seat, and Francis’s ownership already sits at about 70%.
Meanwhile, Gymshark has posted its 13th consecutive year of sales growth, with revenue up 6.4% to £646m (€756m) for the year to July 2025, even as pre tax profit fell to £6.9m (€8.1m) from £11.8m (€13.8m) the prior year. Francis has described that decline as investment in future growth. Much of that capital is flowing into an expanding store estate, including the Regent Street flagship and newer additions in Manchester, Amsterdam, Dubai, Long Island and Soho in New York, plus the first US wholesale deal with Dick’s Sporting Goods in October.
Taken together, the technology succession, the ownership talks and the retail expansion suggest a founder building both the capital control and the operating infrastructure to run Gymshark’s next growth phase on their own terms.
