Your thoughts on fitness franchising more broadly? Franchising is a great way to grow a brand, combining a proven – and often global – system with local ownership and community insight. But it does mean you need to support franchisees properly. They may be in a framework, but they are effectively each running small businesses and may need help with anything from operations to marketing, funding to staffing. It’s therefore difficult to get up and running as a new franchisor. It isn’t just about achieving a scale that drives franchisee confidence. Any new franchise system also needs to learn how to support its network effectively. Another challenge relates specifically to studio franchises, which is where we’re seeing a lot of growth at the moment. Studio concepts rely heavily on delivering a great experience every time – one that’s driven by founder passion and the personalities of those delivering the workouts. That can make it harder to scale and ensure longevity. Not impossible, but harder. That said, in this studio space, I do expect Orangetheory Fitness to repackage and come back stronger in the UK. We are seeing other franchise brands from the
US and Australia enter the UK, but I wonder if sometimes they’re doing it too soon. I believe it’s best to saturate your own market before you go elsewhere; it’s possible to expand too soon. Will Planet Fitness ever come to the UK? I don’t know. Its model relies on cheap real estate and the UK already has good low-cost operators in PureGym and The Gym Group. I’m personally not convinced they will, but let’s see! How optimistic are you about the UK market? Very optimistic, with strong tailwinds and high demand across the sector. For Anytime Fitness specifically, the opportunity is really about sharpening the proposition and executing it consistently across the network. If the clubs look great, the equipment is right and the member experience is strong, the demand is there – and at a slightly higher price point than we currently charge. Combine that with the high levels of engagement we’re seeing from existing and prospective franchisees and there’s no reason we can’t grow significantly in the UK. I believe we can ultimately become the largest player in this market by number of locations.
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026
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