Latest news with #TheGymGroup
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Spring Bank Holiday 2025 opening times LIVE: Shops reveal operating hours ahead of the May long weekend
Live Blog OPEN UP Updated : 8:06, 25 May 2025 RETAILERS across the country have revealed their opening hours ahead of the late May Bank holiday. Major supermarkets and high street shops may have differing operating times during the long weekend. Co-Op and Asda have confirmed that they will be working as usual during the Spring bank holiday. Most gyms such as The Gym Group – which operates 24/7 – have announced they will be open all day but it's still best to check with your local outlet. Those waiting on deliveries may be pleased to know that while there won't be traditional post on Monday, Amazon packages will still be delivered. Follow our live blog below for the latest news and updates...
The Guardian
08-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Gen Z and the gym boss: ‘They cite mental health as high as physical health in terms of reason to join'
If you have health-conscious friends, chances are you'll have seen at least one posting online about a Hyrox race, the gruelling competitive circuit-training trend that has swept the fitness sector. Will Orr knows a thing or two about it. His company, The Gym Group, has rolled out Hyrox training sessions to about half of its 245 sites and prides itself on being the biggest club for the discipline in the UK. However, the silver-haired chief executive has a confession to make: he has never done a Hyrox competitive event, although he has done some training. 'They're quite demanding; that's not to say I couldn't do it,' he tells the Observer as we meet in the no-frills gym chain's new site in Elephant and Castle, south London. 'I'm old-school – I go on the treadmill and the rowing machines.' Hyrox is certainly not for the out of shape: participants have to perform eight 1km runs on a treadmill, each followed by a workout on a different station, such as the sled, sandbag lunge or wall ball. Launched in Germany eight years ago and touted as the sport for everybody, it has become particularly popular with twentysomethings, who post social media snaps of themselves training for races held around the world. Christian Yanga, the Elephant & Castle gym manager, says their oldest member doing Hyrox is 75, while the youngest is 16. The craze is just one leg of a strategy has helped The Gym Group become one of the biggest players in the fitness sector. Founded in 2007 by the former England squash player and accountant John Treharne as Britain's first budget, 24-hour gym chain, it has since grown to 951,000 members, with plans to open 50 more gyms in the next three years. Orr says the founder was inspired by what other no-frills players, such as Premier Inn and easyJet, were doing in their sectors. 'It's about really focusing on the things that matter … great equipment, a nice, big space that's clean and safe and well run, and engineer out some of the things that are less important to people, like a receptionist, somebody laundering towels, and a swimming pool.' Initially backed by Phoenix Equity Partners and Bridges Ventures, the chain floated in London in 2015 and has a market value of £237m, down by a third since the IPO. Its main low-cost rival, PureGym, set up in 2009, is the biggest chain in the UK in terms of sites (412) and members (1.5 million). The Gym Group tried to merge with PureGym in 2014 but the deal was blocked by the competition watchdog. Today, one in six people aged 16 or over in the UK are members of a gym, and numbers are growing. Providers range from £200-a-month luxury health clubs, such as David Lloyd Leisure or Third Space, which offer hot yoga and reformer pilates at the top end, to Virgin Active and Fitness First in the middle, and PureGym and The Gym Group at the low-cost end, with contract-free membership from £14.99 a month and a £15 joining fee. The Gym Group's sites are open around the clock – members can get in, with a code, to work out at 3am if they wish – with 24/7 CCTV monitored externally when there are no staff on site. The chain signed up to the mayor of London's women's night safety charter in 2022. In fact, there are now more 24-hour gyms than 24-hour licensed nightclubs in the capital, confounding predictions that the fitness sector might never bounce back from the pandemic boom in home workouts. Orr, who was headhunted from the Times to become chief executive of the company in August 2023, says that, as a no-contract business, it had to build its membership back from scratch after lockdowns. 'But it came back very quickly. Like so many other businesses in that period, it was obviously a very, a very challenging time.' The future looks much more promising. Record numbers of Britons are going to the gym to socialise while getting fit, a report from trade body UKActive said last week. It found that, since 2022, gym membership had risen by 1.6 million to 11.5 million people aged 16 and over, driven by generation Z. The fitness industry in the UK has grown by 3.5% between 2012 and 2024 to £5.9bn, according to data firm Leisure DB. Much of that was driven by low-cost gyms, which account for 15% of the market by value, up from 2% in 2012, and 28% of membership, up from 4% in 2012. Orr also credits a rise in 'fitness IQ', with people increasingly aware of the health benefits of exercise for mind as well as body. 'Our members cite mental health as high as physical health in terms of the reason to join and the reason to stay,' he says. 'And that's a huge change: maybe 10 years ago, people weren't talking much about mental health.' Gym-goers are roughly 60% male, 40% female with an average age of 30; two-fifths are gen-Z 18- to 24-year-olds, plus a big chunk of millennials, aged 26 to 41. 'Gyms and fitness are increasingly part of the identity of emerging generations. It's part of how they want to live, how they want to socialise, how they want to express themselves, both in the real world and in social media,' Orr says. 'My 19-year-old son – when I was 19, I did occasionally go to the gym because I thought I ought to. He's going every day because he wants to, which kind of amazes me.' Orr has had a varied career. Armed with an MBA from Imperial College London, he ran the ad agency WCRS for five years, which created the widely known 'The future's bright, the future's Orange' ad to launch mobile phone provider Orange in 1994 (now part of EE). He moved on to senior roles at British Gas and the RAC. In 2020, he became managing director of Times Media, where he oversaw the strategic development of the Times and Sunday Times across digital and print platforms. Lessons learned there about retaining interest have been applied to his current job, where there is a lot of churn in the first 45 days of someone joining. 'It's not uncommon in subscription businesses for the highest churn to be near the beginning. A subscription at the Times is no different in terms of that sort of fundamental dynamic,' he says. The chain, which employs 1,900 people, swung to an adjusted pre-tax profit of £3m last year, from a loss of £5.5m in 2023, with like-for-like revenues up by 7%. Orr expects the rise in employers' national insurance, which came in on 1 April to result in a £1.3m hit – 'very modest compared to Wetherspoons' or other leisure businesses. As an avid Fulham FC fan, Orr insists that this is the job he has enjoyed most. 'I've always liked sport and fitness, and it's not a difficult area to get excited about, because we make a positive difference to the UK.' Age 54 Family Married with three sons. Education St Paul's school; Durham University; Imperial College London (MBA). Pay Total package of £1.6m in 2024. Last holiday Cornwall. Best advice he's been given 'Lots of people are good at starting things. Be good at finishing them too.' Biggest regret 'No major regrets (touch wood) but lots of lessons learned.' Phrase he overuses 'Can you switch the light off in your bedroom?' How he relaxes Family, friends, sport, reading.
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Gen Z will protect gym membership as fitness ‘part of their identity'
Generation Z sees fitness as being 'part of their identity' and people are willing to protect their gym membership even if disposable income is squeezed, a gym boss has said. Will Orr, chief executive of The Gym Group, said young people were increasingly associating fitness with their mental health and seeing gyms as a place to socialise. About 40% of all the group's members are Gen Z – which typically refers to those aged 18 to 27. Mr Orr told the PA news agency that fitness and gyms had become 'hard-wired' into many young people's lifestyles. 'In Gen Z you might see the most concentrated effect of that,' he said. 'It's not just about the rational elements of knowing you're getting fitter, but it's also the mental health, and the social aspect of it for some people.' A rapidly growing fitness industry and people seeking out cheaper and flexible memberships has helped the business grow, he said. The Gym Group had just shy of one million members at the end of February while the proportion of them visiting four or more times per month also grew. It says it is the lowest-cost nationwide gym that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week – with memberships starting from £14.99 a month in some locations. Mr Orr said the group had seen a 'strong appeal for this sort of no-frills' membership at an 'affordable price', especially for younger people who may not have 'vast amounts' of disposable income. The Gym Group also runs Hyrox training sessions in 120 of its gyms – workouts that prepare people to compete in global competitions which have grown in popularity.
The Independent
12-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Gym Group nears one million members as company swings to profit
The Gym Group's membership numbers ticked up nearer to one million as it swung back to a profit last year and geared up to open up to 16 new sites in the coming 12 months. The company said average members per gym jumped 4%, helping it turn a pre-tax profit of £2.5 million, up from an £8.3 million loss the year before. By the end of February 2025, the company had 951,000 members, while the proportion of them visiting four or more times per month also grew. London-listed Gym Group has about 250 locations across the country focusing on the low-cost end of the market. But the company has been loss-making in recent years, despite growing membership numbers. Chief executive Will Orr launched a fresh plan in March last year which saw it reduce promotions and focus more on retention to convert the growing customer base into profit. Now, average revenue per member, a key metric for the Gym Group, is up 7% compared with 2023, helping push overall turnover up by one-tenth. The company has benefitted from an increased focus on health among younger Britons, and has targeted them with even cheaper products, such as an off-peak membership. And the cost-of-living crisis has seen consumers increasingly flock to cheaper gyms. The Gym Group's return on its estate of so-called mature gyms rose to 25%, up from 21% last year, after 'better targeted customer acquisition and early progress on retention'. Mr Orr said the company has made 'good progress' in growing membership and profit. 'Our market-leading proposition is more resonant than ever, in a sector that is growing,' he added. The company has seen a 4% increase in average members during January and February this year, as new members driven by New Year resolutions drove 'strong' trading.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gym Group nears one million members as company swings to profit
The Gym Group's membership numbers ticked up nearer to one million as it swung back to a profit last year and geared up to open up to 16 new sites in the coming 12 months. The company said average members per gym jumped 4%, helping it turn a pre-tax profit of £2.5 million, up from an £8.3 million loss the year before. By the end of February 2025, the company had 951,000 members, while the proportion of them visiting four or more times per month also grew. London-listed Gym Group has about 250 locations across the country focusing on the low-cost end of the market. But the company has been loss-making in recent years, despite growing membership numbers. Chief executive Will Orr launched a fresh plan in March last year which saw it reduce promotions and focus more on retention to convert the growing customer base into profit. Now, average revenue per member, a key metric for the Gym Group, is up 7% compared with 2023, helping push overall turnover up by one-tenth. The company has benefitted from an increased focus on health among younger Britons, and has targeted them with even cheaper products, such as an off-peak membership. And the cost-of-living crisis has seen consumers increasingly flock to cheaper gyms. The Gym Group's return on its estate of so-called mature gyms rose to 25%, up from 21% last year, after 'better targeted customer acquisition and early progress on retention'. Mr Orr said the company has made 'good progress' in growing membership and profit. 'Our market-leading proposition is more resonant than ever, in a sector that is growing,' he added. The company has seen a 4% increase in average members during January and February this year, as new members driven by New Year resolutions drove 'strong' trading.
