INDUSTRY VIEW
GRANT HARRISON • ASHBOURNE
Making data work for performance and industry recognition
A t a time when many are ghting for fairer treatment for the UK tness industry, reports like this are key not only for business performance, but to ensure our sector gets the recognition it deserves. Data will be central to navigating these challenging times, and how operators utilise these ndings moving forward matters just as much as collecting it. The information available to independent gym owners today is much greater than it was even a decade ago. The tools to provide genuine insight into a tness business are now within reach of even the smallest operator. But this data has a second important use. When aggregated and presented at sector level, it becomes evidence. It tells a story about who gyms serve, what they contribute, and what is at risk when they close. That is precisely why reports like the Leisure DB State of the UK Fitness Industry matter. They give individual operators a reliable benchmark against which to measure their own performance, but they uncover much more than that. They document the scale and reach of the independent tness sector at a moment when that matters. Recently a report was published demonstrating that Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE), the amount of time we live well within the UK, had dropped by two years. We might all debate about what constitutes public good but we will nd few who contest that living both better and longer are not just worthy goals, they are essential. Since 1997, when Ashbourne started working alongside independent gym owners across the UK, the
tools available to operators have changed enormously, but the core challenge has remained consistent: running a viable business while serving a community. This report shows that the industry continues to bounce back admirably in a period shaped by COVID recovery, cost of living pressures, and sustained rises in operating costs. Findings from recent reports, such as the surge in total number of facility visits, an increase in our industry’s all important penetration rate and, of course, rising income, all give independent gym owners valuable context, that, despite challenges, our industry is resilient and the demand for their services is rising. “Running a viable business while serving a community remains the core challenge for independent gym owners.” The need for a collective voice is the force behind Fair Rates for Fitness, a campaign led by The Gym Owners Forum and supported by Ashbourne. Independent gyms reduce pressure on the NHS, support mental and physical wellbeing, and provide community infrastructure that is dif cult to replace once it is gone. Rising business rates are pushing facilities towards dif cult decisions about their future at precisely the wrong moment. The campaign is calling for fairer treatment, and it needs the industry behind it. Search Fair Rates for Fitness to nd out how to support it, including writing to your MP. Grant Harrison, Sales Director, Ashbourne
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026
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