Yahoo Finance Pure Gym, Gym Group, Nuffield: Who owns Britain’s biggest gym chains?
Following a forced shutdown during the pandemic, Brits have been heading back to the gym in droves helping many of the country’s biggest chains to achieve bumper results over the past couple of years.
Gyms are by far the most significant contributor to the country’s health and fitness economy, employing hundreds of thousands of people and contributing millions in tax to the public purse.
But who actually owns the UK’s biggest gym groups and who sits at the top pulling the strings?
Who owns Pure Gym?
Pure Gym was bought by Los Angeles–based Leonard Green & Partners for £600m in 2017, three years after a failed merger with rival The Gym Group, which abandoned the move after it was referred to the Competition and Markets Authority.
Headquartered in Leeds, the brand is the biggest gym chain in the country, with almost 400 sites in the UK.
Humphrey Michael Cobbold is the current CEO, having joined the business in 2015 when there were just 84 gyms, growing the business to over 200 facilities in 2018.
Pure Gym increased its UK membership from 1.2 million in 2022 to 1.4 million in 2023.
It also opened 40 new locations in the UK over the 12 months, with the company behind the Pure Gym brand seeing its revenue rise from £476m to just under £550m, cutting its pre-tax loss to £52m, down from £123m the year before.
In the same period it reported adjusted EBITDA of £132.2m, up from £95.1m in 2022.
How many locations does The Gym Group have?
The low-cost gym operator The Gym Group became a publicly-listed company on the London Stock Exchange in 2015.
Its biggest shareholders are London-based investment firm Blantyre Capital Ltd, which owns an 11 per cent share, and Liontrust Investment Partners, also based in London, which owns 10 per cent.
Will Orr took over as CEO of The Gym Group in September 2023 and was paid £573,000 for the year, including £118,000 in bonuses.
The group grew its revenue 18 per cent in 2023 with the average number of members using its facilities rising by eight per cent.
Despite this the group reported a loss before tax of £8.4m, an improvement from the £19.3m loss reported the year before.
The Gym Group had 236 sites at the end of 2023 and in March unveiled plans to open 50 more over the next three years.
Is David Lloyd privately owned?
David Lloyd Leisure was purchased by private equity firm TDR in 2013, having been previously owned by Whitbread since 1995.
The Hatfield-headquartered group has around 755,000 members signed up across its 133 sites.
In 2023 David Lloyd Leisure’s revenue hit £756m, up from £655m the year before. In the same year it cut its pre-tax loss from more than £30m in 2022 to just under £26m.
Russell Barnes has been the CEO and director of the group since November 2022.
Who owns Total Fitness?
Kwik Save founder Albert Gubay founded Total Fitness in 1993, selling the company to the private equity arm of Legal & General in 2004 for £80m.
In 2015, Total Fitness was bought by North Edge Capital, which still owns the chain.
The group operates 155 gym sites across the North West, North East, Yorkshire, East Midlands and Wales.
The Cheshire-based group saw its turnover increase from £36m to £39.9m in the year to June 30, 2023, while its pre-tax profit went from £961,000 to £1.2m.
Sophie Lawler joined Total Fitness in June 2018 as CEO.
Who is the CEO of Nuffield Health?
Nuffield Health is the UK’s largest healthcare charity and operates 112 Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centres.
Its CEO, Steve Gray, announced last month that he would be stepping down after nine years, with current Bupa boss Alex Perry expected to takeover later this year.
In its latest published accounts for 2022 the group said it has 365,000 people signed up for memberships across its health and fitness clubs, which grew its revenue to £288m for the year from £102m in the year before.
The charity is headquartered in Epsom in Surrey.
How many gyms does JD Sports have?
Low cost retailer JD Sports launched its own chain of gyms in 2014 and now operates around 230 sites in the UK.
The Greater Manchester-headquartered company boosted its membership to 453,000 in the 12 months ending January 28, 2023, up from 400,000 the year before, almost doubling its turnover from £47.4m to just over £81m.
Its pre-tax profit jumped from £2.2m to £13.5m in the same period.
JD Sports Gyms is backed by the same parent company as the main retail arm of the business, Pentland Group, which also owns Speedo and Berghaus.
French businessman Régis Schultz has been the CEO of JD Sports since 2022.
Who owns Bannatyne Fitness gyms?
Bannatyne Fitness, is a UK-based chain of health clubs founded by Scottish businessman and former Dragon’s Den investor Duncan Bannatyne. It is owned by The Bannatyne Group.
The Bannatyne Group has reported a pre-tax profit of £10.1m for 2023, up from £1m in 2022, according to accounts filed with Companies House in April.
The Darlington-headquartered group also revealed a revenue of £138.9m for the year, a rise from £126.9m.
In 2021, the group’s revenue totalled £75.5m while it made a pre-tax loss of £12.9m. It currently operates 69 gyms.
Where is Anytime Fitness’s head office?
Anytime Fitness is an American franchise of 24 hour health and fitness clubs that is based in Woodbury, Minnesota.
The chain expanded into the UK in 2011 and now runs 185 clubs here, making it the nation’s largest fitness franchise.
Jason Worthy became CEO of Anytime Fitness UK in January 2023.
