Gym wear brand sets sights on £50m turnover target

Redditch-based gym wear brand AYBL has recorded a turnover of £10.3m after just three years of trading, marking ten-fold growth for the business over the course of the last 24 months.

Launched in 2018, AYBL had zero registered employees in its first year of trading, with co-founders Reiss Edgerton and brother Kristian converting their lounge into a warehouse as they sought to establish the brand.

By March 2020, the company had grown from a first-year turnover of £140,000, with profits of £36,000, to a £1.5m business with profits up 900% to £360,000.

During the pandemic year of 2020-21, the brothers delivered further revenue growth, delivering profit of £2.4m.

The past 12 months have also seen Bromsgrove-born Reiss and Kristian ship over 400,000 products to more than 150 countries, establishing a particularly strong presence in the USA, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France and Scandinavia.

Now employing a team of 30, the brothers aim to grow the business to £50m in the next five years.

Reiss said: “For us, growth was always going to come down to getting two things right – product and customer experience.

“Our core consumer is 18-24 and we know what they want – affordable quality – and there was a clear gap in the market for that. Since the day we launched, we have focused on performance over design, and have developed exceptional products that hold their shape, aren’t see-through, and offer maximum comfort during workouts and in everyday wear.”

Kristian added: “We are really proud of our growth during Covid and are pleased we were able to grow our team at a time when people really needed jobs. We didn’t need the Government’s furlough scheme either, which we will always view as a great achievement in a really tough time for the British and world economy.

“The last 12 months haven’t been without their challenges, not least hugely increased shipping costs, but we have managed to avoid passing these price hikes onto the consumer.

“Customer experience is everything to us and the reviews we have secured since launch show we have got that absolutely right.

“The past three years have been an incredible time for Reiss and me, and we look forward to the next chapter for AYBL.”