Press Release - 2021 Fitness Industry PREVIEW Report
10th November 2021
The Leisure Database Company has two pieces of good news. Our annual audit of the full industry, that’s around 7,000 UK gyms, has begun and the results with the full analysis and commentary will be available in 2022. It’s an English understatement to say a lot has happened since March 2020 and the first lockdown; the thirst for updates on the industry is palpable hence this interim report.
The 2021 Fitness Industry Preview Report provides an update on the changes in the industry from March 2019 up to mid-September 2021. We have looked at the top 20 private operators, top 12 low cost operators and top 10 public sector operators. Having two sets of figures (pre and post-Covid) provides a unique view of the top operators in the industry.
This interim report has some quotes from operators that touch on the difficulties to date and provide opinions on the potential future and bullish approach towards continued expansion of the industry.
During this unprecedented period of disruption to normal trade, no less than 8 of the top private operators have managed to grow their estate while 3 remain unchanged. Only 2 operators have fallen out of the top 20. The gap between the top operator (with 290 clubs) and the 20th ranked operator (with 14 clubs) is wider now than at any time in the history of this league table.
Amongst the low cost operators, more than half have opened new clubs and like the top 20 private operators, the gap between the top and bottom of this league table is wider now than at any time since we first reported on the low cost sector in 2011.
The public sector is often the more complicated area to understand and the lockdowns have compounded this. Contract renegotiations, sites being taken back in-house, a rethink on stock and leisure’s reduction of CO2; all of this against a backdrop of reduced local authority budgets. Out of the top 10 public operators, 3 have managed to grow while 1 remains unchanged.
David Minton, Founder of The Leisure Database Company, said “As we move from crisis to recovery mode, this report provides the most up to date view of how the industry is bouncing back. Overall, across the top operators in the three sectors we have looked at (private, public and low cost), there are more gyms open now than in March 2019 which shows how the industry is playing its part in helping improve the health of the nation.”
Further Information:
The Leisure Database Company is a leading independent database specialist that provides key market intelligence and analysis across the industry. Established over 30 years ago, the company works with a wide range of fitness operators, providing member profiling reports, new site analysis, latent demand estimates, statistics and data licenses.