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Budget gyms make mid-market operators feel the strain

Gym membership fees are being squashed by national budget operators, a health and fitness industry suggests.

The low-cost, high technology, self-service gym sector is expected to grow further in 2014, endangering mid-market established names such as LA Fitness, Fitness First and Bannatyne.

A report authored by health and fitness industry consultant Ray Algar, suggests such mid-market operators will need to reinvent their brands to maintain market share.

The report notes the likes of LA Fitness has already started to do this with its premium brand, LAX.

Well-financed young budgeters such as The Gym Group, Pure Gym and Xercise4less and smaller studios that only charge pay-as-you-go are anticipated to boom over the coming year.

Algar, of Oxygen Consulting, said: “The rise of the low-cost gym sector continues to re-shape the UK health and fitness industry.

“This means the established mid-market clubs are having to re-invent themselves to remain relevant to very savvy consumers who increasingly are very clear on what they need and value. As I say in the report, change is hard, really hard, but running an irrelevant business is no fun at all.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .