The UK fitness industry has significant headroom for growth according to a new report from Total Fitness and CIL

New report, The Voice of the UK Gym Customer has been put together by insight firm CIL using data collected independently by Total Fitness. In a generous gift to the industry, the operator has chosen to share the insights to drive the industry forward.

“Over the course of the last five years at Total Fitness, we’ve generated one of the biggest catalogues of gym customer data in the UK,” CEO, Sophie Lawler told HCM. “This has been generated independently by Steve Leigh at Sensu and spans all sorts of attitudinal and behavioural insight – we’ve amassed around 75,000 primary data records.

“We use this data to stimulate our thinking as a team, to stay outside the echo chamber and inform our expectations, but once we’ve done that, it’s no longer useful to us. But it is useful for others, so last year we gave it away.

“I found some of the best and brightest strategy consultants in Liam McGuinness and Jack Turner at CIL and gave it all to them, knowing the data could be useful for the industry when impartially analysed and presented for the benefit of all.

“From a mass of information, they’ve crafted a report that’s universally helpful and then made it available freely for everyone.

“Think of this report as a critical friend to the industry. Honest even if a little uncomfortable and helping keep your eyes up. It’s my great hope that it’s useful, to the extent that it’s updated and published annually.”

While price plays a role in choice of gym, for active members it’s rarely the decisive factor

Room for growth

The findings show there’s room for growth in the UK market, with supply still not meeting demand.

Penetration varies by region, though less sharply than often thought and major cities continue to record higher participation rates, reflecting younger populations and denser, more varied supply.

This pattern points to the next phase of growth, with lower-density and suburban areas under-served, especially as participation continues to broaden geographically.

There’s also room for targeted expansion in areas outside cities, with micro-gyms and convenience-led models having potential.

Ultimately, all business models can succeed, says the report, providing they’re aligned to local needs and executed well.

With the US at 25 per cent penetration and Scandinavia 20 per cent, the report says we need to be more ambitious in our growth targets.

It concludes that the opportunity is significant as gyms become a place to connect, recover and belong and predicts that operators that are able to meet local demand, manage capacity, integrate tech and create spaces where people want to spend time will be best positioned to capture the next phase of growth.

The capacity challenge

Interestingly, capacity – rather than price – is the sector’s most material challenge, with an average of 31 per cent of respondents saying this is their primary frustration and this combination of room for growth and capacity issues all point to the need to build more gyms.

Members most frequently cite overcrowding as their primary frustration across all segments, including low-cost (32 per cent), mid-market (30 per cent) and premium (31 per cent). Among premium members in particular, dissatisfaction tends to stem from a perceived mismatch between price paid and experience delivered.

Other issues highlighted by the consumers polled include restrictive contracts, which are a bugbear for 22 per cent of low-cost members, 25 per cent of mid-market and 33 per cent of premium. Researchers looked at feedback on a number of other issues, such as whether members are satisfied with service levels, if people leave due to poor service, their responses to being sold to and whether the operator cares about staff and suppliers. See full details in Table 1.

Reasons for having a membership are largely emotional and include ‘improve or maintain fitness’ (35 per cent on average and 55 per cent in over 65s), ‘to look better’ (15 per cent), ‘to feel better about myself’ (12 per cent), ‘because I know it’s good for me and my future,’ (10 per cent) and ‘to spend a bit of time on myself (7 per cent).

How consumers rank the sector

One of the more striking findings in the report is that consumers rarely think in terms of the industry’s classic ‘low-cost-mid-market-premium’ framework.

Many struggle to place their own gym accurately within these parameters (Table 2). Instead, their choice of gym is shaped by a more practical set of considerations, such as proximity, need-state, price tolerance and local competition.

For operators, this consumer perspective complicates benchmarking and proposition design. For investors, the report says it “reinforces the importance of highly localised offers and execution, rather than reliance on top-down tiering assumptions”.

“Thinking in price segments assumes customers do the same and that income alone defines choice,” says Lawler. “In reality, it doesn’t. While lower incomes constrain options, higher incomes don’t dictate premium choices. Gym decisions aren’t linear. Value is the real driver, shaped by personal priorities as much as by income.”

Members who attend regularly are significantly less likely to lapse, making a high baseline of usage one of the clearest signals of sector resilience

Core part of household spend

With penetration at 17 per cent – up from 14 per cent in 2015 – gym memberships are increasingly being treated as non-discretionary, with around 38 per cent of members now classifying their gym membership as an ‘essential’ expense.

For many consumers fitness is a routine-defining behaviour and a preferred use of leisure time and spend. An increasing proportion describe exercise as their ‘primary hobby’, with the highest incidence among younger cohorts and multi-membership users (around 10 per cent of members).

This shift is significant. Gyms now sit alongside core household priorities in the consumer hierarchy of spend, rather than just competing solely with other kinds of leisure activities (Table 3).

Traction is also growing among older age groups, with one third of 45 to 54-year-olds having a membership and 48 per cent of over-65s saying their gym membership is ‘essential’.

The three biggest criteria for people when it comes to which gym to join are convenience; the quality and suitability of the proposition and value for money. However, while price plays a role, for active members it seems that it’s rarely the decisive factor.

Average exercise frequency stands at 1.7 visits per week, rising from 1.3 among those earning under £30k to 2.5 among those earning over £150k.

Notably, frequency does not increase materially with gym tier, indicating that lifestyle and motivation – rather than price point – are the primary drivers of usage. This level of engagement is a strong indicator of stickiness.

Members who attend regularly are significantly less likely to lapse, and a high baseline of usage remains one of the clearest signals of underlying sector resilience, while also driving the busyness that supports further supply expansion opportunities.

Thirty six per cent of consumers complement their gym membership with another paid-for fitness service. These include adding Crossfit or membership of a boxing gym (42 per cent); an organised outdoor class or activity (24 per cent); group exercise at a studio, such as Pilates (14 per cent) or a second gym membership (6 per cent).

What matters to consumers

Health and fitness clubs are becoming increasingly valued as a social environment, with 56 per cent of members viewing their gyms as an important part of their social life, especially young, high-earning Londoners (68 per cent).

This means that gym and health club layout needs to be taken into account, to encourage natural interaction and allow paired workouts, which can add to the capacity challenges already highlighted.

Nearly two-thirds of members are willing to pay for additional services. The most sought after being fitness products such as workout plans, PT and body scans (53 per cent); nutritional and wellness services (50 per cent); access to dedicated training zones (43 per cent); food and drink (39 per cent) and recovery products such as cold water therapy (38 per cent).

“In the past six months we’ve launched two bolt-on products with close to 10 per cent of new members adding them at sign-up,” says Total Fitness CCO, Kerry Curtis. “Early signs show these members visit 44 per cent more often, underlining the role of bolt-ons driving incremental value.”

Cleanliness is a core expectation with around 60 per cent of respondents saying it’s ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important

While technology is growing in importance – for tracking, personalisation and seamless membership management – two of the most important factors for customer experience are low-tech. These are high cleaning standards, with visible cleaning staff and gyms not being overcrowded.

Cleanliness is a core expectation with around 60 per cent of respondents saying it’s ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important, with perceptions closely linked to the visible presence of cleaning staff.

Around 4 per cent of respondents are currently using GLP-1 medications, with a further 12 per cent open to future use. Users consistently report that medication supports rather than replaces exercise and many cite increased confidence, motivation and capacity to sustain activity.

“Confidence and the perceived right to belong remain barriers to gym participation, particularly for women. GLP-1 use may help more people cross the threshold,” says Curtis. “Our role is to support them once inside, by creating spaces that feel welcoming and recognise the effort it takes to show up.” l