News: JD Gyms open in Rotherham

JD Sports Fashion Plc has opened a branch of its JD Gyms fascia in Rotherham, converting the former Xercise4Less operation on the edge of the town centre.

JD Gyms is a market leading, premium low cost proposition that competes strongly with mid-market and premium gyms. JD Gyms Rotherham is a state of the art £2m facility, boasting a huge free weights area, 250+ cardio machines, 100s of classes and luxury changing rooms.

Last year, JD Sports Fashion Plc acquired, out of administration, 50 gyms which had previously traded as Xercise4Less for a total consideration of £24.2m.

Opened at the beginning of 2014 in the former B&Q premises on Greasborough Street, a 15 year lease was signed on the 31,000 sq ft property at a rent of £201,500 a year.

Xercise4Less had been facing financial difficulties caused by an increasingly competitive market, which was exacerbated by Covid-19.

An easing of restrictions has meant that gyms can reopen from this week and JD Gyms opened in Rotherham on April 12.

Advertisement
Following the acquisition JD subsequently returned 11 of the acquired sites back to the relevant landlords and currently anticipate retaining at least 36 of the remaining gyms longer term. Negotiations on new leases are still ongoing on a small number of sites. The programme of works to convert these gyms to the JD fascia was accelerated through the most recent temporary closure period with a total of 19 clubs now converted to the JD format.

Peter Cowgill, executive chairman at JD Sports Fashion Plc, said: "The lockdowns in the year have brought into sharper focus the physical and mental health benefits of regular exercise. Therefore, we are pleased to welcome our members back to our clubs in England which have now re-opened and look forward to re-opening in the other nations shortly.

"We are confident that our JD and X4L clubs offer a safe environment for our members, with significant investments made in reconfiguring the space in our clubs to facilitate social distancing and providing sanitisation stations."

JD Gyms website

Images: JD Gyms / Facebook

Read more...

News: Xercise4Less at new Rotherham gym

Yorkshire property developers, the Oakgate Group, has signed up budget gym operator, Xercise4Less for 15 years at a rent of £201,500 a year for its new Rotherham gym.

Opened at the beginning of the year in the former B&Q premises on Greasborough Street, the 31,000 sq ft gym includes over 400 pieces of high tech fitness equipment, a full sized boxing ring and a large free weights area. The gym, like all other Xercise4Less branches, also has a women's only area and a fitness studio hosting more than 40 free classes per week.

Known as "The People's Gym", Xercise4Less aims to offer the largest facilities in the area at the lowest cost, with various membership types and levels.

The former B&Q site has been vacant since the DIY chain moved to a new Rotherham store at Henry Boot's Northfield development in 2009.

John Grantham, managing director of Oakgate, said: "This is a very significant letting in a challenging retail and leisure market in South Yorkshire.

"Xercise4Less is one of the most successful, up-and-coming young companies in Yorkshire and I am sure their new gym in Rotherham will prove extremely popular. It is very good news for the town of Rotherham and will provide an important boost to the local economy."

Xercise4Less has been expanding its portfolio by taking on former retail and warehouse space in prominent locations. Recent openings include Doncaster and Hull and the company recently signed a deal with Tesco to open state of the art gyms in stores at a number of sites throughout the UK.

Founded as Xercise Health and Fitness Club in 2006, it rebranded as Xercise4less in January 2009 and now has 14 gyms. The company plans to open another 100 gyms in the next three years, investing £25m and creating over 1,000 jobs. It recently secured £5m investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) to support its expansion plans.

Xercise4less website
Oakgate Group website

Images: Xercise4Less

Read more...

News: Xercise4Less expansion backed by BGF investment

Fast-growing chain, Xercise4Less, has secured £5m investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) to support its expansion plans that include a planned new gym in Rotherham.

The Leeds based company has an ambitious five-year plan, which includes the rollout of approximately 100 new gyms nationwide. This will in turn create up to 4,000 new jobs.

Xercise4Less currently operates ten gyms and has agreements signed on 14 sites, which sees the brand take on more market share in Yorkshire, the North East and the South West.

"The People's Gym" is hoping to secure planning permission to convert the former B&Q outlet on Tenter Street in Rotherham into a 31,000 sq ft gym complete with 400 pieces of gym equipment, changing facilities, studio space, a female only section plus a salon and beauty treatment rooms on a mezzanine floor. 199 car parking spaces are also included in the plans.

If approved, it is anticipated that the proposed health and fitness club will provide a total of 40 new jobs both part and full time. In the plans, Xercise4Less said it will enter into measures to secure local training and employment opportunities.

Xercise4Less has been expanding its portfolio by taking on former retail and warehouse space in prominent locations offering advantages to customers over traditional city centre budget gyms such as additional space, more gym equipment and a wider variety of choice and more parking. Recent openings include a £1m gym in Doncaster (pictured) and the company recently signed a deal with Tesco to open state of the art gyms in stores at a number of sites throughout the UK.

Jon Wright, founder and CEO of Xercise4Less, said: "BGF's funding will give us the financial and operational facilities to continue our expansion at a key time for the market.

"The Xercise4Less concept is growing because we believe that a budget gym shouldn't offer a budget experience. Cost remains a major issue for many consumers today but we work hard to ensure our members benefit from many added value services. The facilities we offer and the price at which we offer them, continue to attract a large tranche of new consumers into the market."

The BGF is an independent fund of up to £2.5 billion, backed by five of the UK's main banking groups - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, and Standard Chartered - and working in collaboration with the British Bankers' Association.

Richard Taylor, senior investment manager at BGF, said: "We are delighted to be working with Xercise4Less; it is an exciting brand with a very simple but attractive consumer offering. The company has established a unique model in a high growth sector and the management team, under Jon's guidance, has demonstrated its expertise in rolling out new gyms over the past 18 months and consistently delivering a fantastic customer experience at the same time.

"We have no doubt that they will be capable of growing and managing the business on a much larger scale."

Xercise4Less website

Images: Xercise4Less

Read more...

News: Xercise4Less planning new Rotherham gym

Fast-growing chain, Xercise4Less, is planning to open a new budget gym on the edge of Rotherham town centre.

The Leeds based company, is hoping to secure planning permission to convert the former B&Q outlet on Tenter Street into a 31,000 sq ft gym complete with 400 pieces of gym equipment, changing facilities, studio space, a female only section plus a salon and beauty treatment rooms on a mezzanine floor. 199 car parking spaces are also included in the plans.

If approved, it is anticipated that the proposed health and fitness club will provide a total of 40 new jobs both part and full time. In the plans, Xercise4Less said it will enter into measures to secure local training and employment opportunities.

Xercise4Less has been expanding its portfolio by taking on former retail and warehouse space in prominent locations. Recent openings include Doncaster (pictured) and Hull and the company recently signed a deal with Tesco to open state of the art gyms in stores at a number of sites throughout the UK.

The former B&Q site has been vacant since the DIY chain moved to a new Rotherham store at Henry Boot's Northfield development in 2009. Planning permission was secured by Oakgate last year to enable an unnamed discount retailer to take the unit but the store never opened. The unit also found an unusual use in the mean time with the National Community Wrestling Alliance using the empty store for wrestling training.

Known as "The People's Gym", Xercise4Less aims to offer the largest facilities in the area at the lowest cost, with various membership types and levels.

Founded as Xercise Health and Fitness Club in 2006, it rebranded as Xercise4less in January 2009 and now has ten gyms. The company plans to open another 100 gyms in the next three years, investing £25m and creating over 1,000 jobs.

Rival discount gym operator, Pure Gym is also hoping to open a budget gym in the area at an, as yet, unnamed location and Rotherham United recently secured planning permission for a 6,000 sq ft gym inside the New York Stadium.

Xercise4Less website

Images: Xercise4Less

Read more...