The Clubs

This is a unique and exciting opportunity to take over the ownership of two thriving 24-hour gyms located in Peterborough. Both gyms already enjoy good revenue and have amazing potential to grow. The one business available for purchase encompasses both gyms.

The business began in 2018 with the opening of the Anytime Fitness Ortongate Club, after the current owner identified Anytime Fitness as a global leader in the leisure sector and one of the best franchisors on the market.

Whoever takes over the business can reap the combined benefits of two already-successful gyms that have an established customer base with enormous potential to expand further thanks to their location and high-quality infrastructure. One site also includes 5,000sq ft of unused space that can be sub-let or turned into a commercial space to complement the gym.

Business Operations

The Ortongate Club opened five years ago and has over 1,000 paid members at the club – ranking it among the top Anytime Fitness gyms in the region. It’s in a great location among housing developments and colleges, providing plenty of opportunity to grow the customer base – in particular with parents and student memberships. The gym is blessed with lots of parking enabling it to cope with the expected increased demand.

The Lynchwood Park Club opened in August 2022 and is already approaching a landmark 1,000 members. Located in a listed building which is also home to 3,000 employees, it’s widely regarded as one of the best-looking gyms in the entire Anytime Fitness network. Almost £100,000 was spent on just the wood finishing alone, whilst the free weights area is in a pit with amazing features above.

Owning both gyms gives you the opportunity to appeal to a vast demographic, ranging from students and parents to large corporate clients and employees.

Business Support

Anytime Fitness is a global health and wellbeing brand, so naturally the help provided in running the business is world class. Head office delivers wide ranging support activities on a daily and monthly basis, including assistance with the production and delivery of marketing materials, generating corporate membership opportunities, sales support, and training.

Through the Anytime Fitness franchise, this business and its owner are able to benefit from many corporate partnerships which provide significant discounts on products and services such as gym equipment, energy suppliers, legal services, fit out contractors, etc.

Staffing

The business comes with a highly dedicated and experienced team in place, whose continuity will ensure you’re able to hit the ground running in your new business. Key to this is a general manager who is responsible for the overall running of both clubs, including management of all staff.

They are supported by a deputy general manager at each location, alongside regular club staff. There is scope to employ additional team members as you see fit in line with the business’s growth.

Customer Base

Peterborough was originally suggested by Anytime Fitness as a prime target area for expansion and it has proven to be a successful choice. Since opening, both gyms have shown strong customer retention: over the past five years the business has seen positive net member movement each month.

The business also maintained good levels of customers during the pandemic, with many members continuing to pay their full membership fee. Although it temporarily stunted growth, the business has since recovered and is now at the same level pre-COVID with superb growth opportunities on the horizon.

Growth Opportunities

There is fantastic scope for growth at both gym locations. Direct marketing efforts, which are currently focused on social media and leafleting, can be significantly extended, backed by the support of Anytime Fitness’ head office.

There is also little competition geographically, whilst Ortongate has been voted Peterborough Gym of the Year and enjoys a strong local reputation.

The Lynchwood Park gym is located in the heart of a rapidly expanding business park, which is set to see thousands of new employees join the area. As such there is enormous potential to strike big corporate membership deals or entice a large number of membership sign-ups from its captive audience. Additionally this site also comes with 5,000sq ft of unused space that can be sub-let or turned into a commercial space to complement the gym.

About Anytime Fitness

Anytime Fitness is the world’s largest health chain, with more than 4,500 gyms worldwide. They entered the UK market 11 years ago and in that time have grown to include more than 185 franchised clubs in the UK and Ireland. They were recently voted as the best Fitness / Gym franchise in the UK and number 8 across all sectors in the Elite Franchise top 100 league table.

Among their key membership USPs are 24/7 access to all Anytime Fitness gyms, allowing members to work out where and whenever suits them, as well as exclusive access to AF Connect Online. This is an ever growing online portal that features home workout classes; health and wellbeing advice; nutritional recipes; and a content library of articles and podcasts focused on improving work/life balance and sleep.

Next step

Contact Chantry Group Franchise Business Brokers for further information on this unique opportunity.