Surging membership and new openings boost The Gym Group

The Gym Group has hailed surging membership and a rise in premium members, as it saw profits jump in the six months to June.

The company saw gym membership numbers bounce 10.6% higher to 790,000, as it continued to open new sites across the UK.

Pre-tax profits for the group rose 53.3% to £7.1 million for the half-year, as it was buoyed by the increase in membership as well as a rise in people choosing more expensive subscriptions.

The Gym Group reported a 26.9% increase in revenues to £74 million, up from £58.3 million for the same period the previous year.

Revenue and profit growth were driven by the company’s rapid expansion, which saw it acquire 13 sites from EasyGym last June and open a further eight new sites during the first half of the year.

It was also significantly boosted by the increase in total membership and increased spend per member.

The average spend per member each month rose by 5.6% to £15.47, from £14.65, as people increasingly subscribed to its premium LIVE IT membership.

The Gym Group said its new openings have met expectations over the start of the year and it is on track to open between 15 and 20 sites in 2019.

This roll-out programme will also see the launch of its first “small box” format as it looks to open mini-gyms in a bid to increase the number of towns it can open in.

Trading has been in line with expectations over the first two months of the current financial year, the company added.

Chief executive Richard Darwin said: “Our rapid and profitable growth has been achieved through operating high-quality, great-value gyms that offer affordable fitness for all.

“Our growing membership visited a record 24 million times in the first half of the year, demonstrating the wide and diverse appeal of The Gym.

“Continued investment in systems, infrastructure and people to scale the business is enabling us to take advantage of the huge growth potential that exists in the low-cost gym market.”