Fitness community and apparel brand听Gymshark听has announced that John Douglas is to become its new Chief Technology Officer.听听
It comes听hot on the heels of Danielle Petesic joining as Chief Product Officer.听
Douglas joins听Gymshark听after four years as CTO at Tory Burch LLC where he was responsible for all aspects of technology including large Enterprise and Digital Transformations.听听
Before this, he was CTO at MCM Fashion Group based in Hong Kong and prior to this spent nine years with Angela Ahrendts as CTO at Burberry.听听
During his time there he was instrumental in driving the brand鈥檚 digital experiences and directing multiple SAP transformations 鈥� a key component of one of the most renowned brand turnarounds of the 21st Century.听
At听Gymshark, he will be responsible for laying the foundations of the Enterprise and Digital architecture to enable听骋测尘蝉丑补谤办鈥檚听continued rapid, international growth.听听
Douglas has also made the move from New York and will oversee a fast-growing technology team at听Gymshark听HQ in Solihull in the Midlands.听
Founded by Ben Francis in 2012 when he was just 19, the company now functions in over 180 countries, has an audience of over 16 million on social media, employs over 700 people and turned over $380 million in 2020.听听
In August 2020, it became just the second British company to achieve unicorn status – a valuation of over $1 billion – without previous support from external investors.听
鈥淎s soon I started talking to Ben and Steve, it was evident they saw the key role that tech will play in the next chapter of听骋测尘蝉丑补谤办鈥檚听story,鈥� said Douglas.听听
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret that听Gymshark听is expanding incredibly quickly, so is going to need the Enterprise and Digital foundations in place to be able to both cope and scale with this.听听
鈥淭he energy, passion and desire that oozes from this brand is extraordinary. When you combine that with the emphasis these guys place on tech, it鈥檚 fair to say I鈥檓 beyond excited to get started.鈥�听
Steve Hewitt, Chief Executive Officer at听Gymshark,听said: 鈥淲e talk about听Gymshark听as a tech company just as much as we do as a retail company. It鈥檚 a brand born out of tech, so we are as obsessed about building our credentials in this sector as we are in building our conditioning community.听听
鈥淣ot only will investment here mean we are offering a world class proposition to all our customers around the globe but will also go a long way to ensuring we keep and evolve the culture we are so proud of at听Gymshark.听听
鈥淛ohn鈥檚 record for digital transformation at Tory Burch, MCM and not least Burberry speaks for itself. We鈥檝e landed one of the best CTOs, not just in retail, but in all business and I can鈥檛 wait to see what he brings to our leadership team as we continue our strong growth.鈥�听