AusLeisure

Fitness facilities in the UK have lost £3.1 billion (US$4.3 billion/AUS$5.5 billion/NZ$6 billion) since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, with more losses expected as a result of ongoing falls in memberships.

According to a study by Pharma Nord, another £46.6 million (US$64. 6 million/AUS$83.5 million/NZ$90.5 million) will have been lost by the 1,164,000 people who it would have expected to join in January 2021.

With gyms usually experiencing a post-Christmas membership rise (UK gyms benefit from a 12% rise in members each January), the research advised that the commencement of England's third national COVID-19 lockdown on 5th January prevented this boost,

While fitness memberships obviously vary in price, the Money Advice Service suggests that the average monthly fee is about £40 (US$55/AUS$71/NZ$77) every month.

Based on this rationale, Pharma Nord estimates that pre-COVID, the fitness facility sector would typically make £388 million (US$536 million/AUS$692 million/NZ$752 million) every month.

Overall, there has been £470,000 (US$650,000/AUS$841,000/NZ$911,000) of lost revenue per fitness club, since the first national lockdown in March last year.

England saw facilities including gyms, hairdressers, zoos and theme parks, reopen on 12th April alongside non-essential shops and outdoor hospitality venues including restaurants and beer gardens.

As reported by Yahoo Finance, like many UK leisure businesses, gyms have been battered during the Coronavirus crisis.

Many have been closed for a large portion of 2020 and for some months in 2021 as fears of spreading the virus led to widespread lockdowns. The loss of monthly subscriptions and unused investments in COVID-secure equipment such as PPE has been costly.

The revelations come following concerns from gym bosses that the larger chains incurred significant ongoing losses under lockdowns.

In January, the Gym Group (GYM.L) said that its monthly cash burn during the current COVID-19 lockdown is £5 million (US$6.9 million/AUS$8.9 million/NZ$9.7 million), while the November closures cost £6 million (US$8.3 million/AUS$10.7 million/NZ$11.6 million). The group said that 45% of last year’s trading days had been lost due to governmental restrictions.

While £300m in support was offered up for sports in the most recent budget by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the UK Government has come under intense pressure to say what it can give to aquatic centres and exercise facilities, with the industry body ukactive saying around 400 facilities have already closed permanently and that another 2,400 are at risk.

Related Articles

16th April 2021 - Evolution Wellness fitness training programs gain international recognition

15th April 2021 - Nominations open for the 2021 Australian Fitness Awards

12th April 2021 - Australian Institute of Fitness supports Industry Technology Summit

8th April 2021 - EuropeActive, FIBO Global Fitness and Questex/Sibec form 2021 partnership

31st March 2021 - New partnership combines leading nutrition education and personal training software for fitness professionals

25th March 2021 - Fitness Industry Technology Summit offers COVID Guarantee

24th March 2021 - Life Fitness selected as preferred equipment supplier to World Gym International

23rd March 2021 - Fitness Australia says industry ‘continues to strengthen’ 12 months since COVID-19 shutdowns

22nd March 2021 - Fitness and Lifestyle Group launches Emerging Leaders program

11th March 2021 - Rapid growth sees Fitness Business Sales expand its staff team

10th March 2021 - Peloton launches interactive fitness platform in Australia with plans for retail locations

10th March 2021 - FIBO China set to be staged as hybrid event with world’s first post-COVID on-site fitness show

9th March 2021 - New fitness and lifestyle shows look to exploit post-COVID market opportunities

4th March 2021 - Highlow Fitness launches boutique HIIT subscription model

2nd March 2021 - VIC Active continues to highlight the safety of fitness centres

26th February 2021 - International webinar sees industry experts outline role of technology in fitness’ future

23rd February 2021 - Fitness Australia’s Barrie Elvish highlights the value of health

18th February 2021 - Manhattan fitness studio owner Mark Fisher to address first FILEX virtual summit of 2021

11th February 2021 - International fitness bodies launch leadership initiatives

3rd February 2021 - New fitness platform MoveMii launches to connect members with personal trainers

1st February 2021 - New report analyses growth of the Chinese fitness industry

29th January 2021 - White paper identifies role of technology in driving post COVID fitness operations

7th April 2020 - Two-thirds of the world’s fitness clubs are currently closed

27th December 2018 - London’s 1Rebel looking to Australian fitness expansion

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.