Gymshark in trademark battle that threatens future of small fitness business

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Exclusive: British sportswear firm is seeking to obtain rights to The Conditioning Club, which is also the name of a Gloucestershire gymGymshark, the £1bn British sportswear firm…

Exclusive: British sportswear firm is seeking to obtain rights to The Conditioning Club, which is also the name of a Gloucestershire gym

Gymshark, the £1bn British sportswear firm started in a family garage, is locked in a trademark battle that threatens the future of a small fitness business.

Ben Francis, the university dropout who started sewing his own gym clothes in his parents’ garage and is now estimated to be worth £800m, is trying to add The Conditioning Club to his Gymshark stable of trademarks.

However, The Conditioning Club is also the name of a gym and fitness business based on an industrial estate in the Gloucestershire town of Fairford.

Founded by John Watson, who is the same age as 34-year-old Francis, the company registered its name at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) for gym and fitness services five years ago.

Watson, who has nine staff and three self-employed personal trainers serving about 500 members, is now awaiting the outcome of proceedings by the UKIPO.

“When I registered our name, I thought I had done what I needed to do to protect us,” says Watson. “Five years later, we have members, employees, premises, relationships with schools and sports clubs and a genuine local community built around The Conditioning Club name.

“I never imagined that I would find myself having to defend our name, particularly against a business like Gymshark, which like us started from humble beginnings. I had previously looked to Ben and Gymshark as an example of what a small UK fitness-related business can achieve.”

Francis founded Gymshark in 2012 and US private equity firm General Atlantic took a stake in 2020, making the company a “unicorn” with a £1.25bn valuation and Francis a multimillionaire while still in his 20s. He was the recipient of an MBE for services to the commerce and the economy at 30.

Inicio del artículo, extracto de The Guardian Business. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.