Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of Pure Gym, says the number of people visiting the low-cost chain’s website started to climb from mid-afternoon on Boxing Day. He expects that in January, as New Year’s resolutions take hold, the number of people signing up for Pure Gym memberships will increase between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, compared with an average month. “We are still like lemmings after Christmas,” Mr Cobbold said. “We eat the turkey and then we want to repent for it.” John Treharne, chief executive of the Gym Group, Pure Gym’s London-listed rival, agrees, saying the trend “applies right across the sector”. “Whether you are a premium operator or a low-cost operator, trading in January and February is indicative of the full year,” he said, adding that the entire UK gym industry would expect to have about a third of new members for 2017 joining during the first two months of the year. Revenues at low-cost gyms in the UK have risen at a 62 per cent compound annual growth rate since 2011, compared with an average 1.3 per cent growth rate for other public and private gym operators, according to Wyn Ellis an analyst at Numbs.
