The Gym Group reveals plans to expand in 2021 despite latest lockdown hit

The Gym Group has said it plans to expand in 2021 despite expecting £6 million in cash burn during the month-long national lockdown.

Under latest Covid-19 restrictions in England gyms are classified as "non-essential" services and required to close until December 2.

The budget fitness company, which has 183 gyms around the UK - including 61 inside the M25 - said on Monday that since reopening sites after the first lockdown it had "traded profitably and cash generatively".

Membership numbers bounced back, although they remained below pre-pandemic levels. 

The company was hit by the first lockdown, recording a pre-tax loss of £27 million in the six months to June 30, compared with a profit of £5.6 million a year earlier.

But today the company revealed that between July 31 and October 31 it paid down deferred rent, cut net debts, and invested £4 million into completing four new sites and re-developing its Oxford Street gym.

More than seven new sites are now in the pipeline for 2021.

In a trading update, the company said it "continues to see an opportunity to access attractive potential new sites and is building a pipeline for new openings in 2021".  

Chief executive Richard Darwin also said that he is confident the group’s gyms will be able to reopen quickly post-national lockdown, even if areas are under Tier 3 restrictions. 

He said: “In the three months since reopening The Gym Group has seen good levels of membership demand.