FITNESS group Energie Scotland, which has pioneered a model of youth gyms, is set to open eight new sites in Scotland by August, and is preparing to unveil two acquisitions of existing gyms in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
David Weir, who launched the chain in 2006, said that the company was investing around £700,000 in the new sites and a similar sum in the two acquisitions.
The new facilities include women-only and youth-oriented “Shokk” gyms in East Kilbride, Airdrie, and Inverness. Owned by Weir and his business partner Matt Roberts, Energie Scotland currently turns over around £6 million a year with nine health clubs including Oban, Glasgow, Inverness, Montrose and Dundee. The group plans to add a further 13 by the end of 2011.
Weir, a 31-year-old former marketing and PR executive started the business after spotting a gap in the market for affordable fitness centres and made contact with Energie – the fastest growing UK fitness club franchise business.
“I noticed they had no clubs in Scotland so I went down and spoke to their head office in London,” said Weir, who is now managing director of Energie Scotland.
He and Roberts launched the business by buying the former Bannatyne’s Health Club in Dundee in 2006.
Weir told the Sunday Herald: “No-one else seems to want to expand in Scotland but we do. Our HQ is here, and we get loads of enquiries and property offers, and there is zero competition for the Shokk gyms.”
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