Having been kept out of gyms for most of the past year, an unlucky customer took to Twitter last week to complain about being locked inside his local PureGym late at night. “This is urgent!” wrote the stranded fitness fan.
PureGym’s rival Gym Group enjoyed better PR: in an update, the no-frills chain said that trading since April’s reopening had beaten expectations. Membership has almost recovered to pre-Covid levels — 729,000 at the end of May 24, compared with 794,000 in December 2019. Gym Group’s shares beefed up on the news, closing the week up 9.5 per cent at 276p, valuing it at £458.7 million.
Founded in 2008 by John Treharne, a former England squash player, Gym Group typically charges between £9.99 and £19.99 a