Fitness First

Fitness First is the largest privately owned health club group in the world. It consists of more than 360 Fitness First clubs worldwide reaching just over 927,000 members in 16 countries. In the UK alone there are 78 Fitness First clubs with over 171,000 members. In 2005, the company was acquired by BC Partners, a London-based private equity group.

Since 2012, it has been owned by Oaktree Capital Management through a £550 million debt-for-equity swap, absolving the company of external debt. As of 2014, there are 377 clubs and more than 900,000 members globally.

History

The first Fitness First club was opened in 1993 in Bournemouth as a squash club by British investor Sir Tony Beer. In 2000 the 100th club opened in Cologne, Germany, and expanded throughout Asia and 11 clubs in Australia.

In Australia, Fitness First took over a number of Living Well Lady locations owned by the Hilton Group. They also bought the 11-gym Healthland chain from an administrator, and now own 68 gyms across Australia. In late 2006, Fitness First reached the milestone of 500 clubs worldwide, marked by the opening of the fourth club in Sydney, Australia. On 1 June 2012 Fitness First decided to sell off 24 of its 97 Australian clubs as part of a restructure of the UK parent company.