A combination of increased investment in technology and opening new sites has led to strong revenue and profit growth for Leeds-based PureGym.
The Leeds-based gym operator saw turnover grow 24% to £198m in 2017, up from £159m the year before.
Its EBITDA grew £64m to £101m – which it said was driven largely by new sites and innovative membership propositions.
The firm opened 20 new gyms in 2017, taking its total to 192, while also growing membership by 13% to 927,000.
The company, which was acquired by California-based investment firm Leonard Green & Partners in November 2017, invested £32m in its nationwide network during the period.
In a statement, PureGym said it benefitted from growth in its mature estate and the ramp-up of newer gyms including the 31 gyms acquired from LA Fitness in 2015, all of which have now been converted to the PureGym format.
Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of PureGym, said: “2017 was a landmark year for PureGym.
“We delivered on the full promise of the sites acquired or opened in 2015/2016; we continued to invest in technology that drives both better experiences for our members and delivers higher revenues and great profit growth to the business, and we managed a transition in ownership from CCMP to Leonard Green & Partners.
“Above all, however, we have benefitted from the truly extraordinary commitment of our colleagues in gyms and service centres across the country.
“These individuals – and the teams in which they work – stop at nothing to support our members’ efforts in the gym.
“They are the heartbeat of this business and I am particularly proud of how they have responded to the challenge to innovate and develop new ways of working.”
According to research conducted by Leisure DB, the UK is rapidly becoming a nation of gym-goers.
The market intelligence company’s State of the UK Fitness Industry Report, published last year, found that the number of UK gym memberships has leapt by more than 5% year on year to 9.7m.
The biggest area of growth in the UK’s fitness industry is low-cost gyms, which now account for an estimated 35% of all gym memberships.
Mr Cobbold added: “We believe firmly that the positive structural trends in our market will continue to intensify and we’re confident that we have the right processes, systems, and capabilities in place, to remain at the forefront of our industry in the years to come.”
In January, the business underwent debt refinancing and successfully placed £360m of bonds in an offer that was heavily over-subscribed.
Going forward, PureGym plans to invest in marketing, technology and innovation to both reinforce its offer and drive growth.
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