PureGym sprints ahead as it hooks in 190,000 new members in the last six months

PureGym has posted a robust half-year performance thanks to rising membership levels as health-conscious Britons sought to get fitter on a budget.

The Leeds-based company, Britain’s biggest gym chain, reported turnover expanded 17 per cent year-on-year to £272million for the six months ending June.

Another 190,000 members were added by the group during the period, taking the total membership base across its corporate-owned locations to 1.86 million.

Among its recently-opened locations in the UK, PureGym noted that membership levels were performing ahead of plan, even with current cost-of-living pressures.

It launched 29 new sites between January and June, with the majority opening in Britain, two in Switzerland, and seven under franchise in the Middle East, including its first outlet in the United Arab Emirates.

The combination of new locations and soaring membership figures helped the firm’s operating profits rise by 43 per cent to £40million.

Earnings further benefited from keeping cost increases under control by limiting electricity use and hedging approximately 90 per cent of its energy bills.

Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of PureGym, admitted: ‘Whilst we had hoped that operating conditions following the pandemic would be easier, the reality is that the business environment has remained very difficult on multiple dimensions.

‘Inflation, and rising energy prices in particular, put significant pressure on our cost base whilst also hitting consumers’ disposable incomes, triggering the cost of living crisis.

‘So, once again, we have had to rise to the challenges in front of us and prove our capability to adjust and adapt to the situations we faced.’

Cobbold further said that the business has observed robust trading since July, with seven additional corporate-owned outlets being opened.

After lockdown curbs started being significantly loosened in 2021, PureGym began experiencing an enormous recovery in demand, eventually seeing its total customer base far exceed pre-pandemic volumes.

Last year, the company announced plans to more than double in size to over 1,000 clubs in the medium term, with the UK predicted to have between 700 and 900 sites by no later than 2028.

Funding for the expansion will come from the £300million investment by private equity group KKR. It will became the second largest shareholder in PureGym following the deal, after Leonard Green & Partners.