2026 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report

INTERVIEW PROF. RICHARD WEBBER

For example, over the last 15 years there’s been a huge migration of the more afuent ethnic minorities out of London and into the home counties, with a tendency for the communities to re-congregate in new locations such as Milton Keynes and Crawley.

A useful starting point is to think about how sport and physical activity differ across several dimensions: ● Intensity of activity – for example, the difference between boxing and golf. ● Time commitment, with some activities done quickly and others taking half a day. ● Family versus individual participation. ● Transport access, with some users relying on cars and others on public transport. ● Affordability and income levels. ● Health motivations versus recreational motivations. Each type of neighbourhood will have a different prole across these dimensions. Once you understand this, you can begin tailoring services more effectively, moving beyond broad assumptions about ‘tness demand’ to instead focus on the specic motivations, constraints and preferences of the communities around each facility. Those who apply this insight effectively will be much better positioned to design facilities, programmes and experiences that truly reect the communities they serve.

Why should this matter to gym and leisure operators?

This absolutely impacts leisure provision – or at least, it should. However, the tness sector has not yet used geodemographics as extensively as I hope it will, and certainly not as well as industries such as retail. If you look back a few decades, retailers typically had a uniform nationwide proposition. Today, they increasingly adapt their offer to the local catchment. The same logic could and should apply to leisure facilities; even within the same brand, it will likely make sense to vary elements such as programming, pricing, marketing messages and even facility mix based on the characteristics, lifestyles, constraints and preferences of the local population.

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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026

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