Membership figures on the rise as Gym Group reveals healthy results
THE GYM Group is hoping to cash in on the traditional new year fitness boom, as bosses revealed that membership numbers jumped 9.7 per cent in the past year.
The low-cost chain, which has 175 gyms across the country, said that, by December 31, membership had risen to 794,000, from 724,000 the year before, with revenues up 23.6 per cent to £153.1m.
This included average revenue per member per month – a key measure for the business – up 7.6 per cent to £16.02 in December.
Bosses put this down to increased sign-up to the company’s Live It membership programme, which includes multi-site access and a bring-afriend initiative.
Chief executive Richard Darwin said that the company has benefited from weakness in the retail property market which has aided its expansion plans.
He said that around two-thirds of Gym Group openings last year were in retail parks after it had previously been “put off ” such sites due to high rents.
The company said it is also on track to open between five and eight gyms in its new smaller format, having seen its first two small sites launch with trading in line with expectations.
Mr Darwin said: “We expanded our business by 20 sites in 2019, which included the first two of our new small box gym concept, which delivers lowcost fitness to smaller towns.
“There remains a long runway of potential sites in the UK and, with our small box rollout under way, we plan to accelerate the expansion of our gym estate in the coming year.
Joe Healey, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: “The disruptive model of flexible gyms offering consumers 24-hour access among a host of other benefits has been an area of high potential in recent years.”