CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 5 2023 20 This Sporting Life! Sportswear is an industry that is rapidly growing, with new ways of making clothes transforming this sector into one which is immensely popular across a host of ages. Establishing a business here is by no means easy, but that’s precisely what Adam Franks of Legacy Sportswear has managed. Now named Most Influential Sportswear CEO 2023 – UK, we thought it time to catch up with Adam and uncover some of the secrets of his success. hen looking at the world of clothing, it’s clear that sportswear has taken on new importance over the last few years. Customers are looking for products that make them look good, feel comfortable and offer a practicality that they often struggle to find from other manufacturers. Sportswear also encompasses celebrity culture, serving customers who want to match icons of the sector. The success of Legacy Sportswear comes from serving both of these needs. Through Legacy, which sells gym and lifestyle wear and The Locker Room, which allows professional sports clubs and fans to purchase team wear, custom-made jerseys, and official merchandise, Adams Franks has been able to build the team at Legacy Sportswear to new heights of success. This thriving family business achieves because it maintains a closeness at all times that ensures constant support throughout the development of any project. Adam Franks was a professional sportsman, focused on the world of ice hockey. “I’ve had the opportunity to share the locker room with some incredible leaders on and off the ice, including coaches, captains, and players,” he says with a smile. The discipline of working in this environment with a strong team proved to be the perfect training ground for Adam’s future entrepreneurial success. Not content with playing to the best of his ability, he watched those who led and began to unpick what set them apart. This part of Adam’s career saw him and his team go on to win the league, playoffs, and playoff finals, but key to this success was not just raw talent. “Effective, clear communication was essential,” Adam explains. “I learned early on that being an individual doesn’t win you games and that everyone has a role to play in creating something bigger, and when everyone plays their part, good things happen.” The founding of Legacy built on this incredible success, with Adam applying what he had seen to the business of sportswear. “My role as CEO at Legacy consists primarily of working with professional clubs to bring them on board, as well as collaborating with Legacy and working very closely with the development team to help improve the fabrics designs we work with,” Adam tells us. “The majority of the team is made up of athletes or exathletes.” Such awareness of the sector has given Adam and his team an incredible boost when compared to the competition. Not only do they know the market, but they know how rapidly it can change over time. Adam has worked hard to ensure that every member of the team is empowered to make decisions and knows that they have the support of their peers. “Installing that team mentality early on in the business was critical to our early growth and success because it laid the groundwork for how Legacy would grow and what type of clients and employees we would attract,” he explains. For Adam, Legacy is more than just a business that creates sportswear. “I knew that when I started Legacy I wanted it to mean something to our community and to the staff that work there because I wanted them to represent, shop, and most importantly be proud of Legacy.” Mar23475 W The idea of community is one which seeps into every part of the business model that Adam has created. The firm was created during the 2012 Olympic Games, hosted in London. “I had a few friends representing Team GB, so we had them try and test our kit and provide honest feedback,” he tells us. “Each time we made the changes they requested until they were happy, and we knew if professional athletes were happy, our kit would be perfect for our store!” Such care to ensure that those who perform at the highest level of the sporting hierarchy has been key to securing success for the Legacy Sportswear team. While making sportswear that even the best athletes can work with is important, so too is the need to keep an eye on the future. “We
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