Gym Group gets set for reopening after closures lead to a £47m loss
THE GYM Group sank to a £47m loss in 2020 as Covid-related restrictions hit the company, with its gyms forced to close for large swathes of the year.
The firm is focused on reopening in England from April 12 and April 26 in Scotland and said it had retained more members during the current lockdown than previously.
It added that 97 per cent of current members said they expected to return to the gym as soon as possible, with 75 per cent saying fitness would be more important to them than before the pandemic.
The slump into the red follows a £6.2m profit in 2019, with revenues falling 47 per cent in 2020 to £80m.
The firm’s chief executive, Richard Darwin, said: “During 2020 we demonstrated the resilience of our business and its culture even in the most challenging of times.
“By freezing subscriptions when closed and by providing an excellent Covid-secure environment in our gyms when open, we have retained most of our members.
“We are ready to start rebuilding our membership levels and growing our estate from April 12, extending affordable fitness at a time when health and fitness have never been more important.”
Revenues fell due to 45 per cent of trading days in the year lost due to closures, alongside reduced membership.
Despite this, the firm plans to open three new gyms. Six leases have also been signed for new sites, with more in the pipeline.
Mr Darwin said he expected members to quickly return to its sites after reopening amid “strong pent-up demand”.
“By the time we reopen members won’t have been able to go to the gym for eight of the past 12 months,” he said.
“People are really raring to get back and we think there will be plenty who are also keen to become members. We’ve always had a good record at getting former members to return so hope we will see a strong amount of people who cancelled last year coming back.”
People are raring to get back. We retained most of our members. The firm’s chief executive, Richard Darwin.