promotes physical, mental and emotional health – and purposely designing beautiful spaces with hospitality and member engagement at their heart. Traditionally, you had home, work and then a third place such as a coffee shop; gyms perhaps came fourth. Now, social wellness clubs are becoming the second space after home, leapfrogging up the order to become the place where people work, work out, socialise, recover and spend time in a meaningful way. This is the space we want to play in. What does this look like in practice? On the physical side, we’re investing heavily in upgrading our clubs. That includes an investment in recovery spaces – hydromassage beds, compression boots, Hyperice massage guns and so on – and an enhanced “There’s a huge and growing desire to disconnect from screens and reconnect in physical spaces”
We’re seeing younger consumers move away from some of the more toxic social habits and towards healthier alternatives: spending time in gyms and wellness spaces rather than bars. Meanwhile, older consumers are focused on longevity: not just living longer, but living better. The second cultural shift is the demand for in-real- life experiences. During COVID, there was a lot of noise about digital fitness replacing gyms, but the reality has been the complete opposite. People are experiencing digital fatigue. Loneliness is rising. There’s a huge and growing desire to disconnect from screens and reconnect in physical spaces – and with this comes a major opportunity to build the offline world. Together, these two trends are fuelling the rise of social wellness clubs. How is this shaping your offering? We’ve made a very deliberate shift from being a gym operator to becoming a social wellness club. With this has come a requirement to rethink both our physical environment and our overall experience. We’re doing this very intentionally, creating a far more rounded experience – one that
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026
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