Why we chose Denver?

With a month behind us now in our US expansion, the people of Denver have proven to be incredibly open, welcoming and supportive of Gymshark’s initial introduction to the city.

Over the past four weeks I have met with many local business leaders, City, County and State officials, politicians and leading members of the downtown business community. I have been blown away by the cooperation and support we have received, and am deeply encouraged by how excited they have been to have our fast growing and disruptive brand become a part of the ever evolving Denver Area business landscape.

One of the questions that routinely gets asked during our meetings is “How did you decide on Denver for the North American HQ”?

We began the search for our new home by first identifying the criteria that were important to the various functions withing the company:

Direct flight to Heathrow 

Direct flight to our North American distribution centers in Toronto, Los Angeles and Columbus.

 Access to world class tech talent

 Access to multiple universities for both integrated programming and employment

 A city with an emphasis on fitness and quality of life

 A city that encourages entrepreneurial companies

 Affordable downtown office rent

 A city that our employees will love living and working in

With a shortlist of cities that also included San Diego & Charlotte, Denver checked all of the boxes and was a unanimous selection by the Gymshark board.

Here is a brief summary of what made our decision so easy:

Denver is ranked by US News as the number 2 city to live in, in the US.

It is one of the fittest cities in the US with a growing younger population due to the annual migration of new employees and the increasing number of tech start-ups.

There are 12 four year colleges and universities in the area with around 200,000 students. The region’s job prospects and growth are a big draw for graduates especially those on the cutting edge of technology.

Denver is rapidly becoming a leading center of technological innovation in the US. It is centrally located, enabling convenient access from nearly anywhere in the continental US. It offers a highly-educated population, (2nd most residents in the country with a Bachelor’s degree) and boasts a concentrated talent pool of tech-centric professionals.

Denver can also offer tech professionals something more than an abundance of jobs and a lower cost of living than Silicon Valley. The metro area, surrounded by mountains, ski resorts, hiking paths, hot springs, white water rafting, and numerous spectacular parks, is at the heart of the growing trend toward office wellness.

The 300+ days of sunshine per year make the region an even more attractive place to retain and attract employees!

Denver is unique in the world of sports and is the only city in the country with professional Football, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Lacrosse and Rugby teams.

Denver is becoming well known for Thriving Arts, Restaurant and Brewery scene

Denver has a great public transport system comprising of bus and rail. There are 1,000 busses which service 125 bus routes throughout the metro – many of which are free.

The citywide rail system is a quick and efficient alternative to the bus and has a direct line from Union Station to the Airport.

Denver International Airport is one of the most used in the country and provides direct flights to most major US and International markets.

These factors have helped Denver and surrounding counties attract many major companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, VF Corp, Zoom, Slack, and Oracle to move offices into the region.

Needless to say Denver is living up to all of our expectations and I am confident it is going to be a spectacular place to live and to expand our North American business from!

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