Gym operator plans to open more UK sites as expansion drives sales

PureGym has said it plans to keep expanding with new gyms after opening 40 across the UK over the past year.

It came as the gym operator said the new sites helped drive a rise in revenues in 2023 amid a “challenging” economic backdrop.

The leisure company revealed revenues grew 15% to £549 million for the year, compared with 2022.

It said it also benefited from a rise in membership, which increased 11% across the business with 16% growth in the UK.

Last year, PureGym continued its rapid expansion with 54 new openings, including 40 new gyms across the UK.

The group, which is owned by Leonard Green & Partners, KKR and members of its management team, had more than 600 gyms by the end of 2023, with around 370 in the UK.

It said it also has plans to open a further 200 gyms across the UK and Switzerland, another key market, over the next three to four years.

Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of PureGym, told PA it has seen a particularly strong performance from its new gyms, giving it confidence in its continued expansion programme.

“We have found with our new sites that there are still plenty of pools of latent demand, and those have been particularly robust,” he said.

The company said it has made some pricing increases but the cost per visit for customers has remained broadly flat as people have increased how regularly they use the gym.

The gym operator has shown healthy growth.