Expanding Gym Group sees membership and turnover grow
The Gym Group, which has sites in Telford and Wolverhampton, made a strong recovery in 2021.
The group, which now operates 203 no contract gyms across the UK, saw revenue grow 31.7 per cent from 2020 to £106 million with its loss before tax improving from £47.2m to £44.2m.
It saw a significant increase in membership numbers following reopening in April, with total members at the end of December at 718,000, up from 547,000 at the end of February.
There were 19 sites opened in the year and the group has made an encouraging start to 2022 with membership growing 14.9vper cent in the first two months despite impact of Omicron on early January trading. It had 825,000 members at the end of February – 50 per cent growth in a year.
The group plans to open 28 gyms this year with 20 leases already exchanged. The rollout target has been increased to 25 to 30 openings for both 2023 and 2024.
A new technology platform is launching in April.
Chief executive Richard Darwin said: "Our rollout programme is accelerating with a further 28 openings planned in 2022, increasing the number of communities that can access our high quality, great value gyms. We are confident that our high margin, low-cost business model and our yield optimisation strategy will help to mitigate the impacts of the current inflationary environment.
"Our pace of change is accelerating through the launch of a new technology platform and a brand transformation in 2022 as we position our business to take advantage of the many growth opportunities within the low-cost gym market."
