A careers workout with Gymshark

No two workplaces are ever the same – neither are the career journeys of the people based in them.  This is what Walsall College students discovered during a visit to Gymshark’s main offices.

15 students on the Aspire to Higher Education (HE) programme enjoyed a site visit to the Solihull headquarters hosted by some of company’s leadership team.  They met founder and chief marketing officer, Ben Francis who described how the business formed in 2012 and how different staff members had joined their team.

The students also toured the premises, taking a closer look at the working spaces of different departments, as well as the company facilities including a lifting club and sleep pods.

“The most useful aspect of the trip was speaking to the founder and different heads of department,” said Josh, one of the students who took part.  “It was interesting to listen to them explain what they thought was necessary to run a business, as well as their stories on how they joined the company.”

Fellow student, Hannah also found the visit beneficial.  She said: “I found that because all the staff working at Gymshark were friendly, I learned more about the different sectors based at their HQ.  And they explained about what they do in photoshoots and how they produce the photos for their online store.”

Gymshark also set the students a team-based challenge based on them creating an exclusive VIP zone for one of Gymshark’s flagship pop events.  Each team put a presentation together which they pitched to the Gymshark team.

The Aspire to HE programme is a partnership funded through the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) that supports the government’s goal to increase the number of young people from specific postcodes entering higher education by 2020.