PureGym plans expansion after success of new gyms in Selby and Dewsbury

The leisure company revealed that revenues grew 15 per cent to £549m for the year, compared with 2022.

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

Last year, PureGym continued its rapid expansion programme 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 of these 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 in recent months, 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.

“In these locations where we haven’t been before – like Sittingbourne, Selby, Dewsbury, Merthyr Tydfil – we have seen really good pockets of demand.”

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

PureGym said it has seen cost inflation ease as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew by 26.2 per cent to £231.5m for the year.

Mr Cobbold added: “Our proposition – providing accessible, flexible and affordable fitness – continues to be extremely attractive given growing awareness of the need to look after physical and mental health and with cost-conscious consumers seeking out the best value.

“As a result, we have seen robust demand in our core estate, with the volume of gym visits back to pre-pandemic levels.”