HCM Magazine

PureGym gains strong US foothold, following Blink Fitness acquisition 💪✍ It has been confirmed that PureGym is the winning bidder in the auction for US operator, Blink Fitness, with a successful bid of $121 million. With a portfolio of 67 sites in New York and New Jersey, this acquisition gives PureGym a significant growth platform in the US, where it is also seeking franchise partners under its PureFitness brand. Humphrey Cobbold, CEO of PureGym commented: “The acquisition of Blink Fitness is transformational for PureGym in the US, a market we have been operating in since 2021. It gives our Group a meaningful presence in the country and a strong foothold in the attractive New York and New Jersey area. “US expansion has been an important part of our growth plan which is why we actively participated in the Chapter 11 process and entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Blink Fitness. We have, over several months, spent a considerable amount of management time and resources getting to know the business and the management team and have developed an excellent understanding of both its prospects and the opportunity it represents. “The American fitness market is the largest and most dynamic in the world. We are incredibly excited by the scale of opportunity and the chance to tailor and apply our proven model there. “Through investment and upgrades, we plan to enhance the high quality fitness experience Blink Fitness members currently enjoy. We are looking forward to working with the Blink Fitness team and can’t wait to get going so we can give more people access to high quality, affordable fitness.” PureGym is represented by Latham & Watkins, LLP as legal advisor, PJT Partners as investment banker, and RCS Real Estate Advisors as real estate advisor. To read the full story, click the link below. Be the first to know what's happening in the industry by signing up to our digital releases here: www.hcmmag.com/signup #HCMMag #PureGym #BlinkFitness #Fitnessnews #USA

Last week was an exciting milestone for Cyclops Workout as we made our debut as exhibitors at the inaugural HCM Summit in London. Hearing positive feedback from the industry really does fuel our drive to play a key role in bringing a connected experience to the strength community. Thanks for all the interesting conversations Ian Daniell Origin Fitness UK, Craig Smith PureGym, Dag Lee Nile, Rob Barker EGYM, David Minton Leisure DB, Martin Seibold LifeFit Group GmbH, Steven Sykes Duncan Black Escape Fitness, Daniel Jones Orbit4 Group Limited, Crunch Fitness, Sean Turner Les Mills International. Well done Liz Terry, HCM Magazine and Jan Williams for putting on an excellent event and thanks to Kauai for the great food (fantastic reminder of SA). #hcmsummit2024 #hcmsummit #fitness #digitilisation

𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨.   In the latest issue of HCM Magazine, Julie Cramer rounds up the latest health, fitness and wellness innovations, including the game-changing power-harvesting Connected Pulley - designed to transform the value of selectorised equipment, for both gym #members and #operators.     Read it here: http://bit.ly/3NNffdS   #SmartStrength   #ConnectedFitness #ConnectedStrength #Health #Wellness #Fitness #StrengthTraining #Gym

HCM SUMMIT. First of all I would like to appreciate the opportunity to attend such an amazing, filled with incredible speakers event to learn a lot and get excited. Thank you HCM Magazine team, Liz Terry it was a high previlage! Secondary and super exciting was to hear “Pilates” many-many times during the day from all people around.  Pilates, together with wellness, lifestyle and Recovery – is on a top of the each Presentation for all the Fitness Industry Players. From Virgin Active to Third Space. And the most incredible part was to see Balanced Body UK Equipment, Allegro 2 Reformer on the stage, on three huge Screens for almost 2 min video just after panel with Colin Waggett, CEO Third Space. It is not a chain, it is a unique experience in each club with its special character, as their customers. Baz Moffat, CEO, The Well HQ mentioned Pilates as a main Tool for Women’s Health. Baz is delivering training that enables health club teams to better understand how women can train in their clubs. Works with CIMSPA, talks a lot about Pelvic Floor. Love hanging out with David Minton - Legend in Fitness industry. Always busy as always has answers to all questions about Fitness. Amazing to catch up with Dawn Tuckwell. Getting so many news and insights from you. Appreciate time with you.Was great to catch up with Katie Lewis and Nicky Jobson.   Was an emotional meeting in person with Phillip Mills. Has launched Les Mills International Pilates and keeps being the most beautiful Group Ex Program on the Earth. Hope to collaborate and implement equipment as well, one day. I was impressed by the speech of Emlyn Brown, senior VP wellbeing, Accor. "We got used to locate Gyms in basement, lower ground but now changed the approach and want to provide high level of the Gym, wellness, SPA and open doors for locals".  Virgin Active As always very cool, are very proud of their Pilates Studios as well. Dean Kowarski, Group CEO, Virgin Active. 31 Clubs in the UK. 2000 Reformers.  Will Orr, CEO, The Gym group. 241 Gyms, 900 K members. Gyms are beating PUBS. Gen Z is going to Gym to hang out with friends, replacing Beer for Cold Plunge and ginger shot. Fahad Alhagbani, CEO,  Armah Sports Company. Have founded three of the largest health club operators in Saudi Arabia, putting two of them through IPO. Fahad came to England for research and development, discovering Fitness Market before they started.  Belinda Steward, MD of Leisure, health, wellbeing, Places Leisure. I love the statement:  “Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers”.  ASPA international. Michelle Molloy - Great inspirational connection. SPA & Pilates projects are coming! Keith Burnet, CEO, Alchemist and Adventure.  An expert in team building and high-value creating teams. I was ready to go kayaking and hiking, leaving in a tent for three days with colleagues before wild Bear appeared in his Presentation. The one they almost met during one of the team buildings. 

Swim! and The JD Gym Group part company 👋 🤝 Four-time Olympic medallist, Rebecca Adlington OBE, and Olympic swimmer, Steve Parry MBE, have successfully completed a management buyout of swim The pair originally founded the swimming lesson business in 2012 and The JD Gyms Group acquired a majority stake in May 2022 to help drive growth. It now operates from 27 venues in the UK, delivering lessons to more than 30,000 children each week. Twelve of the sites are purpose-built and fully managed by the Swim! team and the other 15 are based in schools and sports centres. The MBO sees Adlington, Parry and the chief operating officer of The JD Gyms Group, Amelia Worrall, step away from JD and form a new owner-managed team with full control of the Swim! Worrall will become managing director of Swim! after a phased handover from The JD Gyms Group. Parry will also retain an active role. Adlington, who is the brand director, says there are big expansion plans in the coming years: “We are committed to creating child-friendly, purpose-built facilities enabling children to learn this vital life skill, with a passion for ensuring more kids can access pools within their local communities. We are truly thankful to JD Gyms for their support over the past two years.” Alun Peacock, chief executive of The JD Gyms Group, wished the team luck with their expansion: “We are delighted to have facilitated the expansion of the Swim! business over the last two years and are excited to see how the management team can springboard growth on the back of this MBO. The MBO comes as part of our realigned strategy, in which we will be focusing primarily on the accelerated growth of the JD Gyms fascia.” The JD Gym Group has 89 gyms and has been on the acquisition trail this year as it aims for 100 sites in the UK. Click the link below to read the full story. Be the first to know what's happening in the industry by signing up to our digital releases here: www.hcmmag.com/signup #HCMMag #Swim! #JDGymsGroup #Fitness #Healthandfitness

ServiceSport Group has announced Saudi expansion 🏅🇸🇦 ServiceSport Group has announced the expansion of its global footprint, with the launch of ServiceSport KSA in Saudi Arabia, says Chief Commercial Officer Michael Ellis This strategic expansion allows ServiceSport to further their mission of providing first-class fitness equipment servicing and support across new markets, says Ellis, speaking to HCM Magazine. "We’re committed to bringing the same level of excellence, reliability and expertise as we do in other world regions, to all our partners in Saudi Arabia. With the addition of ServiceSport KSA, we’re proud to now serve a wider international community. The new venture perfectly complements our existing operations at ServiceSport UK and ServiceSport Europe, which covers Spain, Portugal and Germany. This expansion marks just the beginning of our journey towards further global presence and impact, we’re committed to exploring new horizons, expanding our footprint and providing unparalleled service to our clients worldwide. This global journey has only just begun for ServiceSport and we can’t wait to share what’s next with HCM readers – watch this space!" You can find the full feature on pages 62-63 of Issue 9, 2024, HCM Magazine here http://lei.sr/i4C3g Be the first to know what's happening in the industry by signing up to our digital releases here: www.hcmmag.com/signup Michael Ellis Colin Marriott Chris Crane Scott Burrell Matt Hoffman Ian Brown #HCMMag #ServiceSport #Fitness #FitnessKSA #SuadiArabia

KYC - Know Your Customer! Last week’s HCM Magazine summit showcased some insightful themes, from the shift toward wellness to the growing importance of data and leveraging AI in the fitness, health, and wellness sectors. But, one key takeaway for me was the message from Justin Musgrove on the importance of truly knowing your customer. Trends, technologies, and shifts will come and go, but if you deeply understand your current and future customers, the right solutions will reveal themselves. Data is, of course, critical—but without knowing your customer, what data is worth tracking? Gathering data for its own sake serves little purpose. By understanding customers’ challenges, habits, and lifestyles, you can track the data points that matter, identify the trends, and from that develop the best possible experience for them —whether AI-enabled or not.

Flying back after two intense days in #London. ⚫️ Hosted a private gathering of founders and executives at the intersection of #fittech, #femtech and #healthtech together with Flo Health Inc. Learned that these industries need to talk more to each other to put the end user in the center of their offerings and collaborate. ⚫️ Attended the HCM Summit and met some old friends from the traditional fitness industry. Yet again, everyone speaks about partnerships and ecosystems. #Technology in the sector is no longer a nice cute thing, but a must-have. What were your take-aways, Alexander Chekan Vicky Ellison Kerstin Obenauer Jayshan Ratnakumar?

LifeFit Group make further acquisitions as part of buy and build strategy 🏗 🏛 LifeFit Group GmbH has acquired Body Culture Group GmbH & Co. KG's collection of 15 clubs, bringing the German operator’s estate to 165 and adding 30,000 new members. Under the new ownership of Waterland Private Equity Investments which completed in September, LifeFit Group has a “buy and build” expansion strategy, with the goal of getting to more than 250 sites by 2028. Christophe Collinet, CCO LifeFit Group, who has completed 10 deals for the Life Fit Group, says: “There has not been one month without growth in the last 36 months. We have significantly expanded our studio network throughout Germany in recent years and are very happy and proud of how much we have been able to grow so far this year.” Currently branded as Body Culture, Fitnessfabrik, Amanusa and Intenso, the clubs are located in Frankfurt, Darmstadt and the surrounding areas, which is an economically significant metropolitan area and where LifeFit Group is headquartered. The majority of the clubs will be positioned as the full service, best price brand, Fitness First Red, but those with stand-out facilities or locations will be branded as the premium Fitness First Black. Rebranding is expected to start in early 2025 and be completed in the second quarter. Earlier this month, LifeFit Group also acquired Buena Vista Fitnessclub GmbH, a leading provider in North Rhine-Westphalia, which owns five fitness studios with almost 10,000 members. The clubs are in Detmold and Lemgo as well as more rural areas and will build LifeFit’s presence in this region. The clubs have synergies with Fitness First Red and will be rebranded in Q1 2025, while maintaining the strengths of the Buena Vista brand, which includes some state-of-the-art equipment from providers such as EGYM CEO of Fitness First, Johannes Maßen, says: “We are especially looking forward to working with the employees. It is important to us to preserve the strengths of Buena Vista while ensuring that both the employees and the clubs benefit from being part of the LifeFit Group and the Fitness First Red brand.” With both of these acquisitions the previous owners will exit the companies after a handover. LifeFit Group operates a number of brands: Fitness First Red, Fitness First Black, Elbgym (HIIT), Barry's (boutique HIIT), The Gym Society (boutique) and, from Xponential, Club Pilates and YogaSix. HCM is delighted to announce that CEO of Lifefit Group, Martin Seibold, is confirmed as a speaker for next year’s HCM Summit, scheduled for 23 October 2025. To read the full story, click the link below. Be the first to know what's happening in the industry by signing up to our digital releases here: www.hcmmag.com/signup #HCMMag #Lifetimegroup #acquisition #fitness #fitnessindustrynews

Urban Gym Group (UGG) has snapped up Sparring Partners Holdings, owner of UK-based boutique brand, Gymbox, which currently has ten sites open and trading. The value of the consideration was not disclosed. During the transition and integration of the two businesses, Neil Randall, CEO of UGG and CFO, Pascal Averdijk, will take the reins, while the current Gymbox leadership team – Marc Diaper (CEO), Scott Vernon (CFO) and David Cooper (co-founder) – will exit. Randall said: "Gymbox is an iconic business with a unique personality and there are great synergies between our brands. "This deal marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, starting with the development of a new flagship club in Finsbury Park, London, along with further investments into the current estate. "On behalf of all at Urban Gym Group, I would like to extend my gratitude to Marc, Scott and David and wish them the very best for their next challenge," he said. The Finsbury Park site has been on the Gymbox development roster for some time, but was held up by the pandemic. Gymbox locations have reduced from 13 to ten sites since the start of the pandemic, for various reasons, including expired leases. Diaper said: “This acquisition is testament to the incredible work our team has put into growing the brand and I’d like to thank each and every team member both past and present for their contribution.” To read the full story, click the link below. Be the first to know what's happening in the industry by signing up to our digital releases here: www.hcmmag.com/signup #hcmmag #gymbox #urbangymgroup #acquisition #healthandfitness