PureGym to close clubs in 'hotspots' within two hours

Britain’s largest gym group is drawing up plans to close individual clubs in coronavirus ‘hotspots’ with as little as two hours’ notice in a package of measures being deployed by chains to navigate a way through the crisis. 

Gyms have been given the green light to open on Saturday. It is understood that around 11million people had club membership six months ago but an estimated twomillion have since cancelled. PureGym chief executive Humphrey Cobbold said his plan to track outbreaks using publicly available Government data is being prepared for use as lockdown lifts. He said it will allow him to identify hotspots using infection data which is matched with postcodes. 

Cobbold has already offered to share the data with others in the industry. And he is prepared to share the fruits of the analysis with other business sectors and local councils as Britain prepares to combat local outbreaks or even a second spike this winter. 

The analysis is being run by just three people including two at PureGym and one at OC&C, a business consultancy employed by the firm, 

It sits within PureGym’s raft of measures to reduce the risk to staff and customers while making its outlets as accessible as possible. That includes reducing the number of people in gyms at peak times and maintaining two-metre distancing. 

Cobbold said that would mean peak capacity could be around 40 per cent lower in some gyms compared with pre-crisis levels. 

But he said demand could be ‘smoothed’ out if customers planned visits. ‘They just can’t come at 6 o’clock on a Tuesday evening with the same regularity and in the same numbers. But if we can move some of the demand to either side of peak: a little bit earlier, a little bit later, we can actually serve a pretty similar number of people as long as they can be flexible.’ 

Members can gauge the busiest times on the company’s app to avoid queuing outside while customer volumes subside and it is testing a booking service that could be introduced to its busiest gyms. 

Caroline Macklin, head of brand for Virgin Active, said it will reopen all of its gyms bar six on Saturday. Virgin is offering to freeze memberships for free until August 31 for those hesitant about returning. Those over 70 or with underlying health conditions can freeze their memberships indefinitely. 

Virgin has also launched a service on its app to allow members to gauge how busy their local club is – green for low occupancy, through amber to red for high occupancy. Safety measures also include overnight deep cleaning and cleaning in high-use areas every three hours. 

David Lloyd Clubs is offering to freeze membership until the end of next month. It is reducing fees by 10 per cent through August ‘as our clubs get used to the new way of operating’. 

Cobbold said that before the crisis hit, ‘things were on a tear’. He added: ‘We’re not alone in that. Things were going really well and then the s*** hit the fan.’ 

He accepted that some gym goers have cancelled their contracts despite only paying £20 a month at his chain. But he said: ‘Lots of people cancelled all their direct debits for everything because they were worried financially – it wasn’t specific to gyms.’ 

Cobbold admitted the ‘hassle’ of visiting gyms with restrictions in place may be too much for some. But he said it could also drive competition for customers. 

‘I think lots of people will come out of mid-market gyms where they pay £50 or £60 a month and say, ‘Actually, PureGym looks pretty good at £20 or £25 a month so I’ll cut my cloth to fit.’ 

‘But actually the cancellation rate was below what was expected and we’ll reopen with about 80 per cent of the members compared with the forecasts we had for the end of July before the crisis hit. I view that as a positive – on day one we have 80 per cent revenue. That puts us, financially, in a pretty good position. And clearly we haven’t had any joiners for four months.’ 

Cobbold suggested the current trend for exercising outdoors – partly through necessity – may wane further as the weather cools. 

He said: ‘There’s a reason why nearly 11million people were members of gyms in February or March when they could easily have run in the park, or ridden a bike or jumped around in front of a television. Instead they chose to pay. 

‘They chose that because they got something out of going to the gym. 

‘Nobody has an Olympic lift platform, a full set of dumbbells, a treadmill and a rowing machine – all that mix of stuff is there. And it’s pretty important for people’s lives. Plus there are lots of people, when you talk to them, that realise now more than ever that health and wellbeing really matters – mental health as well as physical health.’ 

Citing coronavirus as one reason to return to gyms, Cobbold said: ‘The deputy chief medical officer was saying recently exercise stimulates the immune system. 

‘It gives you a greater ability to fight this virus or any virus – go out and get fit. 

‘You’ve got three months before this thing might come back. That’s long enough to make a material difference to your wellbeing.’