HELLO and welcome to the AM Business Briefing, as franchise operator business Empowered Brands has said it is partnering with Australian boxing fitness concept UBX Training to launch the chain in the UK and Ireland, in a deal claimed to worth £50 million.
Operating a franchise model, Empowered Brands will roll out 250 UBX Training sites across the UK and Ireland, creating around 750 new jobs.
It said it will be targeting six sites in Glasgow and five sites in Edinburgh.
UBX Training is a business co-founded by four-time world boxing champion, Danny Green, alongside Australian fitness and tech entrepreneur, Tim West.
It first opened in Australia in 2016 and has since expanded rapidly, enjoying five years of continuous growth, with 92 clubs now open across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
John Jempson, chief financial officer at Empowered Brands, said: “As part of our investment, we are setting aside a sum to directly fund future franchisees’ start-up costs. Whilst the fitness sector has remained resilient and bounced back well post-lockdowns, access to traditional forms of lending remains impacted, and we will look to fill this gap. The investment reflects our strong confidence in the UBX concept.
“We foresee strong interest in our franchise offering from three key groups: personal trainers looking to take the step up into bricks and mortar, existing fitness businesses looking to diversify their portfolios, as well as ‘corporate refugees’ – individuals who might be leaving the workforce and rethinking their career path. UBX units are small and with our support, represent a low cost of entry to the fitness market.”
“We are confident the concept will grow at pace here, building on the success of our existing brands.”
Mr West, of UBX Training, said: “We are well-positioned to capitalise on the wider interest in health and fitness post-pandemic. Covid-19 shone a light on the importance of regular exercise – for both physical and mental well-being - thereby widening our target market.
“Empowered Brands understands our vision and we believe their sector experience and deep understanding of the UK and Irish markets makes them the perfect partner for us.”
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