Franchising is booming – Europe’s three biggest operators are planning to use this model to grow in new territories; Purpose Brands is opening a club each day and Crunch Fitness and Jetts Fitness have planted flags in India

The original founder of 24 Hour Fitness, Mark Mastrov, is returning as owner and executive chair. 

Soho House, the operator of private members’ clubs and its in-house Cowshed-branded spas, has secured funding worth US$2.7 billion (€2.3 billion, £2.0 billion) to take the company off the New York Stock Exchange, where it had been struggling.

Pause, a franchise of wellness recovery studios across the US, has partnered with holistic programming platform Alo Moves to provide guests with on-demand breathwork meditations.

BLK BOX is moving into the US market and continuing its expansion into Europe. We meet the new recruits who’ll be helping power this growth

Sweat-sensing wearable innovator, Epicore Biosystems has announced an additional US$6 million in Series B funding, bringing the total raise to US$32 million.

Testosterone shots, GLP-1s and wellness – HCM talks to industry leaders about their plans for 2025 and examines current opportunites, threats and trends

Fittech company bsport is set to revolutionize the wellness industry following the announcement of its recent Series B funding round, securing €30 million.

Purpose Brands, the US$3.7 billion company formed by the merger of Orangetheory Fitness and Self Esteem Brands, has appointed Tom Leverton as CEO.

Reform RX has secured US$5.1 million in funding to fuel global expansion, led by Northern Ireland equity fund manager, Clarendon Fund Managers.

Speaking in the HCM Handbook 2024-2025, which will be out next month, PureGym managing director, Rebecca Passmore, says the company is on track to deliver on its global expansion plans.

US gym chain, Crunch Fitness, has bolstered its global expansion plans with the appointment of John Kersh as managing director of international development.

Jason Worthy has been appointed group CEO of Myzone to lead the 'next stage of growth', with current group CEO, David Stalker, stepping back to take up an advisory role.

John Kersh has announced he is leaving boutique franchisor, Xponential Fitness, after eight years with the company – seven of the driving international growth across multiple brands and the best part of a year with Pure Barre.

The partnership between PureGym and Belfast-based supplier BLK BOX is transforming the gym floor

Frasers Group, owner of Everlast Gyms, has acquired the assets of WIT Fitness from administrators RG Insolvency, adding the brand to its portfolio.

Chuck Runyon, CEO of Self Esteem Brands (SEB), has told HCM that rumours the company is considering selling its Anytime Fitness brand are “categorically untrue”.

The CEO of Everlast Gyms tells us about the launch of a new 37,000sq ft flagship site in Gateshead and how it will support the brand’s global expansion

Everlast prepares for global expansion with 37,000sq ft flagship 'showroom' location @Everlast_Gym

PureGym added 190,000 new members in the first half of 2023, taking the total number of members across its clubs from 1,655,555 to 1,840,000.

Dave Mortensen, co-founder of Self Esteem Brands (SEB) – the company behind a raft of wellness brands, including Anytime Fitness – says the company is driving to reach 10,000 units globally in the next five years, which would make it the biggest wellness franchiser in the world.

Gympass, the aggregator which specialises in corporate wellbeing, has achieved a US$2.4bn valuation, up from US$2.2bn two years ago.

The president and co-founder of Self Esteem Brands tells Kate Cracknell the company is aiming to get to 10,000 locations in the next five years

Dave Long, co-founder and CEO of Orangetheory Fitness, has told HCM the boutique fitness franchise is aiming to expand to 100 more locations globally this year.

Kickboxing-inspired brand 9Round has extended its international reach with a Master Franchise Agreement for South India, which covers around 20 per cent of India’s area and population.

Xponential Fitness has signed a Master Franchise Agreement with Kuwaiti real estate company Aqarat for brands Rumble, Club Pilates, StretchLab and CycleBar. The deal will see at least eight studios open in Kuwait in ten years with additional openings possible, depending on market conditions.

Pure Gym says it will open over 20 gyms across the UAE, with the first three of these opening in Dubai later this year. This builds on the company's expansion in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Ektimal, leading the companies to sign a Regional Development Agreement for the opening of 130 gyms across the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) by 2027.

WellnessLiving – a cloud-based business management software provider and payments platform for fitness operators – has raised US$66m. A partnership with McCarthy Capital generated US$46m and CIBC Innovation Banking provided an additional US$20m.

Pure Gym has opened its latest location in the Middle East as part of a major rollout.

Pure Gym has revealed it's planning to double the number of clubs in its portfolio, with a target of reaching more than 1,000 clubs by 2030.