Anytime Fitness boosts in-house property team to accelerate UK growth

Watford, 1st October, 2015: Anytime Fitness, the fastest growing fitness chain in the world, has expanded its property team with six new hires to accelerate the company’s rollout in the UK.

The group already has 51 clubs open and a further 14 sites are set to be unveiled later this year. In addition to this the company has over 40 sites in legal discussions, which are due to open in early 2016 and a further 110 clubs to follow shortly after.

Brett Edwards, General Manager, at Anytime Fitness says: “The growth of the company presents an exciting challenge for this new-look team to identify suitable properties of around 5000 sq.ft that are conveniently located.”

The six new recruits include five leasing managers; Kevin Cockburn who joins from Asda, Heather Blenkinship from Colliers, Kirsty Berry from Majestic Wine, Simon Copper from Travis Perkins and Brandon Jones, who is recently qualified. In support Guy Terry has joined Anytime Fitness to drive the legal process and ensure timely opening of the clubs.

Brett adds: “The increasing demand for new sites is driven by the fact that existing franchisees are seeing excellent returns on Anytime Fitness’ proven business model and are now rolling out multiple sites. In surpassing well known franchises like Subway, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut, to become Entrepreneur Magazine’s #1 Top Global Franchise in 2015, new investors are increasingly being drawn to Anytime Fitness.”

In what is an extremely competitive sector, the company believes it has created a proposition which is attractive to members, franchisees and landlords. Stephen Rough-Whitta, Head of Property at Anytime Fitness UK, says: “Our 24-hour clubs represent a quality brand for members who are prepared to pay a little more for the convenience and quality on offer, which in turn positions Anytime Fitness as an ideal tenant.

“Following a review of the business and skills we need in the team to open more clubs, we have decided to further strengthen the calibre of the team and invigorate operations to help us reach our target of 350 clubs by 2018. This renewed sense of purpose was highlighted by the team’s presence at Completely Retail earlier this month, where they set about their mission to get more clubs open sooner.

“We now have a 10 strong in-house property team, which includes a Programme Manager and Town Planner, and together they are already starting to agree some great new deals. Such is the scale of the operation and opportunity, we have also appointed three external agencies who are working with us to find suitable properties. They are Cushmans in Scotland and the North of England, BWP in the Midlands and Jackson Criss in the South.”