With over 7,000 health and fitness clubs, there is no denying that the UK’s fitness industry is a fiercely competitive market. Since opening its first UK club in 2012, Snap Fitness has gone from strength to strength with a network of 86 sites across the UK and Ireland and a 17.15% growth in club members from the beginning of last year.
Over the last four months Snap Fitness has opened eight new locations, all of which are seeing significant success in membership sales. Brand confidence is further buoyed by the growth in clubs that have opened over the last few years.
Bill Painter is the Director of Development at Snap Fitness, “When we came out of Covid and were able to start opening clubs again we set our franchisees’ expectations on achieving an opening target of 300-400 members and reaching 1,200 members in the first year. However, the majority of our new openings have far exceeded ours and our franchisees’ expectations – reaching the 1,200 member milestone within five months, showing that the demand for gyms continues to grow.”
The network’s newest launch in Pontyclun smashed the network’s pre-sale records with over 780 members joining before even opening its doors earlier this February. Similar success has been achieved at Snap Fitness Melksham, which opened in January this year, and registered 840 members in its first month. Franchisees are seeing a strong return on their investments which, according to Snap Fitness Melksham’s owner and multi-unit franchisee, Samraaj Aujla, is largely down to the support of the head office team.
“It’s been over two years since my Dad and I opened our first gym in Christchurch. Now we also own Cross Hands and Melksham and are servicing close to 4,000 members – with three launches to come in Ireland. Before joining, we had no experience in the fitness sector, so our success has all been made possible by the great support from the Snap Fitness head office team. The operational support has been fantastic, as has the help we received in marketing our locations. Over time, they have helped me develop my skill set, and I can confidently say I now understand what it takes to run a fitness business,” said Sam.
There have also been significant milestones for locations that have opened in the last two years too. Snap Fitness Tooting, which opened in 2020, became the network’s best-performing club globally. Whilst, Snap Fitness Waterford was the fastest-growing club, reaching over 2,000 members within 12 months. The franchisee of Snap Fitness Waterford, Peter Dhillon, attributes his success to a combination of factors.
“As a gym owner, it’s a combination of my hard work, having a great team of club managers and support from head office in finding the right locations and offering additional marketing materials,” explained Peter. “My staff have the opportunity to constantly upskill themselves through training courses provided by head office. I’ve also really enjoyed the range of marketing materials offered to us – they have been invaluable.”
Bill Painter added, “We enable franchisees to combine their professional skills and passion for fitness with running a successful fitness franchise. Our model has been designed to offer franchisees maximum returns by providing support at every step of the way by analysing everything from the gym’s location to marketing support. We have an established team of franchise business coaches on hand to support and discuss best practices and to help our network successfully run their Snap Fitness territory. If the past year proved anything, with our market-busting growth figures, it is that our system works.”
