UK gym memberships total 10.7 million, up 4% from 2021, with many being attracted to HVLP operators like PureGym.
New research from the UK has revealed that gym memberships, market value and penetration have all surpassed pre-pandemic levels and are at an all-time high, according to a new report that is optimistic about the future of the UK health and fitness industry.
The findings, provided by market research firm Leisure DB, highlight the health of the UK’s private fitness sector but show that challenges remain in the public sector gym market – defined as all public centres in the UK with gym facilities available to the public on a paid or membership basis.
Here are some key findings across the market from Leisure DB’s 2024 State of the UK Fitness Industry report.
- The industry’s market value increases to £5.9 billion ($7.6 billion) in 2024 (up 9.7% since 2023, the highest ever).
- The number of gyms increased slightly, but the total remains below the highs seen in 2019. The report puts the number of gyms at 7,009 in the 12 months to the end of March 2024, compared with 7,239 in 2019.
- Total gym membership in the UK rose to 10.7 million, up 4.1% from 2021’s 10.3 million.
- Total penetration reached 15.9%, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of 15.6% in 2019.
- PureGym and GLL remain the UK’s largest private and public operators respectively, measured by number of gyms.
- PureGym, SLM (Everyone Active) and JD Gyms are the only three operators to have added more than 10 gyms in the past 12 months (34, 12 and 10 respectively).
A fitness market full of potential
The report highlights growing competition in London’s property market, with large amounts of space usually reserved for large gyms being targeted for activities such as virtual cricket, clay pigeon shooting, football and Formula 1 driving simulators.
“There is still room for big-box gyms, as many landlords are keen to offer a healthier offering,” note Stephen Steadman and Will Brown of Central London Retail Division, “but the market has shrunk significantly. Now you have to be the best in the business, and it’s polarised. Anytime Fitness maintains a presence, but generally it’s either the large low-cost operators PureGym and The Gym Group, or the premium and even ultra-premium brands such as Third Space, that attract landlords’ interest.”
Mostly good news for HVLP gyms
Notably, Leisure DB’s findings reveal that the low-cost fitness sector has become less important this year: of the 120 new clubs that opened in the past two months, just 45 (37.5%) were low-cost clubs, compared to last year when low-cost fitness gyms accounted for 80 of the 145 new openings (55%).
Still, the findings are not a damper on morale for the UK’s leading private gym brand.
PureGym currently operates 379 clubs in the UK and is the only operator with over 1.5 million members in the UK. The brand plans to reach 400 clubs in the UK within the next 12 months and is actively expanding into the North American market beyond its three locations.
Following PureGym is the second-largest private gym operator, The Gym Group, which added four clubs for a total of 234 facilities with approximately 900,000 members.
Founded in 2007, the high-value, low-cost (HVLP) gym plans to open 10 to 12 locations this year and accelerate its “store expansion” over the next three years.
“There is still a huge space for low-cost gyms in the UK and we’re committed to making great-value, low-cost fitness even more accessible to everyone,” Will Orr, CEO of The Gym Group, said recently.
Following PureGym and The Gym Group are Anytime Fitness (178 clubs), Nuffield Fitness & Wellbeing (112 clubs) and David Lloyd Clubs (102 clubs).
Franchise Health
The UK’s three largest franchise operators, Anytime Fitness, Energy Fitness and Snap Fitness, collectively operate 324 clubs, down slightly from 327 in 2023, with total membership numbers remaining at the same level as in 2023.
Anytime Fitness UK chairman Andy Thompson said the fitness franchise was seeing record numbers in membership, footfall and system-wide revenue.
“We’ve also seen strong interest from people looking to invest in fitness, franchising and specifically Anytime Fitness,” Thompson said. “We remain on track to meet our target of selling 25 franchise licenses by 2024. As of the end of March, we had 185 clubs open, 200,000 members and over 1 million visits per month in January, February and March. We’re excited to see where we go from here.”
Leisure DB’s UK Fitness Industry Report 2024 can be found here: hereThis year’s report is being provided free of charge as part of LedgerDB’s efforts to improve the health of the nation’s population.
