The East Midlands is home to Olympic swimming legends Adam Peaty and Rebecca Adlington. It also houses the headquarters of swimwear giant Speedo, along with 140 other sports equipment and apparel companies. The region comprises 30 high-growth companies.
BatFast is currently the most valuable sports equipment company in the region, with a pre-money valuation of £34.5m.
The East of England plays host to a bitter football rivalry between Ipswich Town and Norwich City, as well as the esteemed journalist Alan Partridge. But it’s also home to Jody Cundy — an exceptional Paralympian and one of the few athletes in history to win Olympic medals in multiple sports.
With 177 companies, making up 9.40% of the UK total, the East of England’s most valuable sports equipment company is the on-the-go public exercise firm Swing Fitness, with a pre-money value of £5.9m.
The capital and its outer boroughs, unsurprisingly, feature the highest concentration of companies on this list with 289 companies, 15.4% of the UK’s total sports companies. It has also produced both of Britain’s fastest sprinters, Adam Gemili and Dina Asher-Smith.
Moving from two feet to two wheels, Hammersmith-based performance cyclewear outfit Le Col, is the most valuable sportswear company in London, valued at a handsome £140m.
The North East is a proud sporting region, with Newcastle United one of the best-supported football teams in the UK. Meanwhile, Lioness Lucy Bronze — one of the most decorated players in the women’s game — hails from Northumberland.
It’s appropriate then that FOOTY.COM, a comparison website for consumers to find the best deal for their footballing apparel, is the North East’s most valuable company in the sports supplier sector, with a £4.2m pre-money valuation.
The North West is a commercial powerhouse when it comes to sporting companies, featuring one of the UK’s two unicorns in the sector. Castore, a UK business valued at £680m following a raise in late 2023, sells sports apparel to consumers but also has a strong commercial presence in football and, more recently, F1.
The region also boasts a seriously impressive cohort of Olympians, from Laura and Jason Kenny to Keely Hodgkinson and Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Over to Northern Ireland, home of Ulster Rugby, Rory McIlroy, and George Best, is where we find a truly unique company on our list.
Movetru, a female-founded activetech company worth £6.4m, has developed an app for fitness rehabilitation. The business received an Innovate UK grant of £245k in May 2024 to help validate the application of their technology for lower limb screening.
Comprising 7.2% of the overall UK market, Scotland is a proud sporting nation, with a world-renowned footballing rivalry, a wealth of Olympic talent including distance-runner Laura Muir and cyclist Katie Archibald, and an iconic golf venue in St. Andrews.
Tee-ing off with a driver is Edinburgh-based Shot Scope; a wearable technology company that enables golfers to track their performance with in-game statistics. Featured in the Scotland Fast Growth 50 in 2023, the business is currently valued at £23.0m.
The South East is the second most densely populated region for sports supplier companies, making up 14.7% of the total. And with Olympic legends Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes flying the flag for the region, it’s easy to see why.
In a competitive field, Maidstone-based activetech company WithU is our frontrunner. Now worth just shy of £100m, the virtual personal training business integrates with wearables and keeps users motivated to achieve their goals.
Just a fraction behind the South East with 11.2% of the UK’s sports suppliers is the South West. The region is famous for national treasure Tom Daley, knitting extraordinaire and occasional Olympian diver.
Meanwhile, the region can also claim one of the UK’s most decorated Paralympians as its adopted daughter, with cyclist Dame Sarah Storey living and training in the South West. Hitting top gear in our list is Temple Cycles, whose master bike builders have helped the company reach a £13.6m pre-money valuation.
Wales, home of the Millenium Stadium — one of the more feared rugby venues for opposition teams — features 3.8% of the UK’s sporting suppliers, including female-founded Acai Outdoorwear.
Valued at £3.71m, the fashionable, female sportswear brand was founded by Kasia Bromley, previously of Alexander McQueen. The business has since featured in both the FEBE 2023 and Wales Fast Growth 50 high-growth lists.
Featuring the second of the sector’s unicorns, and the most valuable company on our list, is the West Midlands — host of the most recent Commonwealth Games (and that iconic bull).
Gymshark, now a 20% scaleup and global sportswear titan, was launched in founder Ben Francis’s parents’ garage in 2012. Fast-forward 12 years and the Solihull business is worth over £1b, and has contributed £97.5m to the UK economy based on our GVA metrics.
Yorkshire, the spiritual home of cricket and legendary triathletes Jonny and Alistair Brownlee, comprises a respectable 7.6% of the UK’s sport suppliers.
With a strong cricket heritage, it’s little wonder that Payntr Cricket, which designs and sells cricket footwear, is the most valuable company in the region. Founded by ex-professional cricketer David Edward Paynter, great-grandson of England Ashes batsman Eddie Paynter, the business is currently valued at £3.41m.
