HEALTH & FITNESS


Serco Leisure scores Birmingham contract win


Serco Leisure has won a 15-year contract with Birmingham City Council to man- age nine leisure centres across the city, including the design, build and operation of four new swimming pools. According to Birmingham City Council’s


assistant director for sport and events, Steve Hollingworth, Serco Leisure “sub- mitted quality and cost effective tenders” which will help to promote activity across the Second City despite the council’s “con- siderable budgetary restraints.” Te leisure centres were previously oper-


ated in-house, but will now join Serco’s extensive portfolio of UK leisure facilities. Details: http://lei.sr?a=x4j3E


Pure Gym powers profits to £10m


Pure Gym recently posted a strong set of financial results, revealing that group profits for 2014 increased by 365 per cent to hit £10m. Te financial results for the


12 months to 31 December 2014 were powered by the opening of 24 new gyms, as the low-cost chain shook off the disappointment of its failed merger with Te Gym Group to liſt revenue to £68.6m – an increase of 49 per cent. Meanwhile, member growth


of 46 per cent outstripped the 40 per cent increase in venues, he lping Pure Gym reach 420,000 members. “In 2014 we delivered impressive finan-


Pure Gym CEO Humphrey Cobbold is driving the chain’s expansion


cial performance whilst managing significant expansion,” said Pure Gym executive chair Peter Roberts. “In just five years Pure Gym has estab- lished itself as the leading gym operator in the UK and made gym membership a reality for hundreds of thousands of people. We have fur- ther exciting expansion plans for 2015 and look forward to another year of growth.” Te figures are a strong indicator that the march of the UK’s


Te campaign aims to get office workers moving


Campaign aims to tackle office inactivity epidemic


Almost 80 per cent of UK office workers feel they spend too much time sitting down, with more than half regularly eating their lunch while sitting at their desk. Tese are some of the key findings which


have sparked a new campaign – On Your Feet Britain – which aims to boost activ- ity by getting workers off their backsides. Sedentary behaviour is frequently


dubbed “the new smoking” and the latest activity campaign aims to turn the tide on office workers’ growing laziness. Research has shown that every hour


spent sitting in front of the TV cancels out 30 minutes of exercise, with seden- tary behaviour also linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers and poor men- tal health. Around 45 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men spend less than 30 minutes a day up on their feet at work, according to statistics from the campaign. The campaign is promoting ideas


such as standing meetings and standing desks, so that workers do not negate the hard work that they’ve done in the gym. Details: http://lei.sr?a=z3h6J


6 NorthEdge backs Total Fitness takeover


Privaty equity firm NorthEdge Capital has backed a buyout of Total Fitness Health Clubs Limited – led by the gym chain’s management team – to the tune of £11.5m. Te overall value of the deal has not been


disclosed, but it sees new majority stakeholder NorthEdge and Total Fitness management acquire the business from previous owners Barclays Bank, Co-op bank and RooGreen Ventures. Alongside a partial realisation of its equity, RooGreen has reinvested in the busi- ness as part of the buyout, with its partner Warwick Ley remaining on the Total Fitness Board as non-executive chair. Headquartered in Wilmslow, Cheshire,


Total Fitness operates 17 fitness and leisure clubs across the north of England, with more than 87,000 members and approximately 550 employees. Te deal brings to a conclusion a successful turnaround of the business which has seen RooGreen partners Brian Davidson and Ley work with Total Fitness CEO Richard Millman and the management team over the last two years to deliver a significant growth in the membership base, which has increased by 14 per cent since December 2012, and taken the business back into profit.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital NorthEdge partner Ray Stenton led the buyout “We are really excited as a management


team to be working with NorthEdge as a new partner in the continuing success story that is Total Fitness Health Clubs,” said Millman. Te buyout will see the existing manage-


ment team, led by Millman, receive significant new investment for plans to foster growth and achieve their vision of being the “dominant health club chain in the north of England.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=T7x3T


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2015


low cost gym sector looks likely to continue, despite increased competition from existing players and new entrants such as Sports Direct. Te new Pure Gym CEO Humphrey Cobbold


recently told Leisure Opportunities that the chain aims to expand to reach around 125 sites by the end of 2015 – a target that would see it outstrip Virgin Active as the UK’s largest gym chain in terms of venues. Te group has laid the foundations already by boosting its back office capacity. Details: http://lei.sr?a=v3c8U


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