Hotel entrepreneur gets on the treadmill
A PRIME location site next to Leeds Corn Exchange has been chosen for a “revolutionary concept” in fitness.
Pure Gym will meet growing consumer demand for high value, low cost gyms boasting 24-hour access to more than 175 state-of-the-art cardiovascular and fitness machines.
A 15 year lease has been agreed with Welbeck Land for the 15,000sq ft unit on Cloth Hall Street. The gym is set to open in October.
Customers can join now from only £9.99 per month and can cancel anytime. The usual subscription fee will be £15.99 per month.
The concept is the brainchild of Yorkshire-based hotel and leisure entrepreneur Peter Roberts.
The former Golden Tulip UK chief executive said that Pure Gym had been modelled on similar operations in the US and Germany, which have proved very popular.
“Leeds is an ideal site for Pure Gym, ” he added.
“It is one of the UK’s largest cities with a busy city centre both during office hours and beyond. There is a daytime population of more than 55,000 within a half mile and a similar number of residents within five minutes drive who can access Pure Gym easily.”
Mr Roberts said Pure Gym will also open later this year in Manchester, Wolverhampton and Edinburgh. The plan is to have 20 sites operational by 2012.
The new venture, which is privately funded, will be run by most of the team behind the Golden Tulip business including Brian Scurrah as development and operations director, Angela Crawshaw as property director and Becky Potter as site researcher.
Joining the team is James Jack as finance director.
