Yahoo Finance The Gym Group planning to open 50 new sites over three years
The Gym Group has said it plans to open around 50 new sites over the next three years as it accelerates its expansion across the UK.
It came as the low-cost gym operator said it was well placed to benefit from the challenging economic backdrop, with some customers moving to cheaper gym operators.
The company, which currently runs 233 gyms across the UK, revealed that revenues grew by 18% to £204 million for 2023, compared with the previous year.
This was supported in a rise in gym members, with average membership numbers up 8% for the year.
It had around 850,000 members across the UK at the end of the year.
The group said membership continued to increase into 2024, with a strong January and February as revenues grew by 16% over the two months.
Revenues also increased last year after the business increased pricing.
The Gym Group said the average monthly price of standard membership had increased from £21.49 in December 2022 to £23.16 at the end of December last year.
The group posted a pre-tax loss of £8.3 million for the year, although this shrank from a £19.4 million loss a year earlier.
Last year the company also opened six new sites, but said it plans to accelerate this to up to 12 openings this year.
Chief executive Will Orr told the PA news agency that the group will target urban locations as part of the expansion plan.
“We think we can open around 50 new sites over the next three years,” he said.
“Although we will always prioritise quality. We would rather open 48 of the right sites than try to force ourselves to the 50 numbers.
“There are some opportunities out there from a real estate point of view and we’ve had some really exciting new gyms.
“We have been targeting urban residential areas, so particularly places like Greater London.”
Shares in the business moved 6.4% higher at 116.6p.
