Budget operator Pure Gym has tapped into London’s booming boutique fitness market with the launch today (21 January) of a high-end indoor cycling studio in Moorgate.
The UK’s biggest gym chain has enlisted the expertise of six-time Olympic Gold medal winner Sir Chris Hoy to formulate the new Pure Ride concept. Hoy,
who is a Pure Gym investor and advisor, has had significant input in creating a new high-intensity performance training programme for the site.
Situated two minutes from Moorgate Station, Pure Ride will offer up to 60 indoor cycling classes a week. The 45-minute classes will be split into two studios, with one delivering Hoy’s programme and the other room offering themed workout routines set to high energy dance music.
The strategic move – which comes in the same week that it emerged the company is considering a
potential £500m IPO – sees Pure Gym well-positioned in both ends of the gym market which are currently experiencing growth: budget and boutique studios. The company told
Health Club Management there is potential for further Pure Ride sites in London and possibly other cities over time, although no concrete plans are currently in place.
“This is clearly a new segment of the fitness market for us, but it remains true to our overarching mission, which is to offer fabulous fitness experiences and to make great exercise opportunities accessible and appealing to as many people as possible,” said Pure Gym CEO Humphrey Cobbold.
“We know in London, particularly in the City, that there is an increasing demand for premium, high intensity pay as you go fitness and we have developed a product to serve that market.”
The facility will use the pay-as-you-go business model popular in boutique studios, where people will have the option to buy credits from £16 to £20 a ride. The “luxurious environment” includes changing facilities and key coded lockers, while every rider will also be provided with clip-in shoes, fresh towels and luxury toiletries on arrival.
Matrix Fitness, which is the regular supplier for Pure Gym’s 136 budget gyms, has provided 105 of its IC7 indoor cycles to equip Pure Ride.
To read a Q&A with Sir Chris Hoy on his mission with Pure Gym to get the public moving – from the September 2015 edition of
Health Club Management – click
here.
