PROPERTY Battle of budget chains heats up
Low cost fi tness chain T e Gym Group has secured £50m of venture capital to expand its club portfolio – less than a month after rival operator Pure Gym announced it too would be spending £50m on new sites. T e Gym Group now has
the backing of two private equity investors – Bridges Ventures and Phoenix Equity Partners. While it is the fi rst time Phoenix has invested in the company, Bridges Ventures has supported the chain since its inception in 2007. It is the latest sign that competition between the UK’s low-cost gym operators is heating up. In May, Pure Gym announced it would
spend £50m on new sites following its takeover by US private equity fi rm CCMP Capital Advisors. Pure Gym currently has 45
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Cinema-led development planned for Yate
Plans for a £12m cinema-led development for the Yate Shopping Centre in South Gloucestershire have been revealed to the public. Dominion Corporate Trustees (DCT), which owns the property, wants to develop a six-screen cinema, as well as six restaurants and six retail units. Marks & Spencer Simply Foods, Sports
Direct and Costa Coff ee have already been secured for the development. DCT said that a new cinema topped the
public’s wishlist when it consulted with the community seven years ago, shortly aſt er acquiring the centre.
T e Gym Group plans to open up to 30 new health clubs each year
locations in the UK and has plans to add 40 new sites over the next 12 months, including 15 gyms in London alone. T e Gym Group operates 36 sites and has
announced plans to open 20 to 30 new gyms each year. Details:
http://lei.sr?a=p3Q8h
Mayor approves Earls Court demolition
T e proposed £8m redevel- opment of Earls Court in London has been given the go ahead by Mayor of London Boris Johnson. T e Earls Court Exhibition
Centre is set to be to demol- ished as part of new plans to create a 77-acre redevelop- ment site in Earls Court and West Kensington. The ambitious propos-
als, drawn up by Sir Terry Farrell for Capital & Counties Properties, include new lei- sure facilities, a hotel and retail space, a new primary school, a library, an integrated health centre and a fi ve-acre public park. T e 10m sq ſt (929,000sq m) development
will span the two boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham and is
T e scheme will see Earl’s Court being replaced by a modern venue
expected to provide 7,500 new homes. Boris Johnson said of the scheme: “I’m in
no doubt that the development will provide a massive boost not just to this part of the capi- tal, but to London’s wider community as well.”
Whitbread launches The Hub by Premier Inn brand
Whitbread Group has launched a new hotel brand – T e Hub by Premier Inn. It will be the fi rst hotel where the entire
room can be controlled using a smart phone app. Guests will have the ability to check in online and control their room’s lighting and
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temperature as well as what is on the radio or TV when they arrive. T e new brand will fi rst open in London’s
West End next summer and will continue to target major UK city centres. Whitbread has plans for fi ve new ‘hub by Premier Inn’ hotels .
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital T e historic structure will be rebuilt in Wales
London Bridge station roof moving to Aberystwyth
Part of the 177-year-old London Bridge sta- tion roof is set to be rebuilt in Aberystwyth, Wales as part of a proposed £10m narrow gauge railway museum. Opened in 1902, the Vale of Rheidol
Railway has been given sections of London Bridge station’s roof, which it plans to use to house its new locomotive museum. Elements have been saved from the roof
including 16 columns and 14 beams in a deal that sees about a third of London Bridge’s old barrel arch move to its new home in Wales. Details:
http://lei.sr?a=z8g6Y
Uncertain future for Liverpool’s Central Village
Liverpool’s £160 Central Village project has been put on hold aſt er the building fi rm overseeing the fi nal phase of the project, Merepark Construction, is set to go into liquidation. T e scheme was running 15 per cent over budget when the project funder decided to cease payments to Merepark Construction’s subcontractors, despite the project being 85 per cent complete. T e Village, in the city centre, comprises
a 6-screen Odeon cinema, 442 hotel rooms and 160,000sq ſt (14,864sq m) of retail and leisure space. Details:
http://lei.sr?a=x4n6B
ISSUE 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013
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