What you need to know
The UK’s private health and fitness club market is now pushing towards the £3 billion and 5.5 million member marks in value and volume terms, with the still rapidly-expanding low-cost sector the principal driver of current growth.
Increasing provision within the low-cost segment is expected to remain the primary source of further development into the medium term, a period in which consumers are expected to respond particularly favourably to the more flexible payment and pricing options becoming available.
The flexible payment trend poses a trading-down threat to the mid-market and premium segments, where the perennial problem of churn remains an ongoing issue too. In response, operators here are likely to invest strongly in new technologies that offer more stimulating exercise experiences and increasingly personalised training programmes.
Products covered in this Report
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Health and fitness clubs examined in this Report are defined as being privately owned, ie operated by a company or individual on a commercial, for-profit basis.
Where reference to the public sector is made for the purpose of comparison, public health and fitness clubs are defined as those operated by, or on behalf of, a local authority, such as a gymnasium and other facilities found in public leisure centres or swimming pool complexes.
