You basically marketed, and everyone went to PureGym.

Yes, that is literally what happened, to be brutally honest. It was really tough because the market, as I mentioned, is already saturated. Even back then, it was filled with so many different gyms and offerings. The percentage of people who exercised and were already at a gym was high, so it was about moving those people from a different gym to us. Long story short, we persisted and actually grew the gym membership from 1,400 at opening to just under 6,000 members. We ended up taking about 2,000 members from PureGym.

Why did they leave PureGym and go to The Gym Group?

It was a new offering and a couple of pounds cheaper. The gyms were very close to each other, so people going into town had us as an option. My focus was always on member satisfaction, the team, and the classes offered. I quickly realized I needed to organize parking options. In the town center, there wasn't any parking, so I went to the council. There was a central car park behind us, and I managed to secure parking for our members for two hours.

What about the fact that they've lost 20% of their member volume over the last five years on average? That was last year's numbers, and it might be the same for 2023. You mentioned that the best personal trainers have gone online and done their own thing, which is probably true. How have you seen that landscape change over the last year or so?

When we returned after Covid, we had probably lost at least a third of our personal trainers per site. That reflected the number of members we had lost as well.