Independent fitness centres offering activities from pilates to boxing are jumping in to fill the gaps on UK high streets amid a surge of interest in local alternatives to big gyms.
More than 1,000 independent health clubs have opened on high streets, shopping centres and retail parks since 2019, an increase of a third, data shows, with almost four a week opening in the past year.
Research by Green Street, previously Local Data Company, for the Guardian found the centres had set up in former fashion and furniture stores or charity shops as landlords proved willing to look at alternatives to retail or food outlets because of high vacancy rates.
Separate figures from high street analysts at Experian indicate independent health clubs, such as centres offering pilates or CrossFit, have been growing faster than sports facilities such as football and boxing clubs.
Some entrepreneurial businesses that started with one outlet are turning into small chains, with Chilli Pilates, the gym One Ldn, and the children’s gymnastics, dance and martial arts space Gymfinity Kids among the fastest growing.
Nancy Naylor, who opened Her, a female-only fitness studio in a former travel agents and pop-up clothes shop in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, said her landlord had had “a lot of inquires from coffee shops but wanted to support independents and bring something different to the high street”.
She said the business had been built up by word of mouth as passersby saw it and came in. “I wanted to create a safe space for women to work out and not something that is just a gym but a bit of a community where you can hang out,” she said. “I have women who have never set foot in a gym before.”
Entrepreneurs are also using social media such as TikTok and Instagram to build a following or “fandom” as interest in locally accessible health and wellness services has been boosted by the shift to more working from home.
Some small businesses that have moved into empty shops or office space started out in parks during the pandemic lockdown keep-fit boom, when gyms had to shut their doors.
David Minton, the founder of the industry analysis company LeisureDB, said the number of mini-gyms was increasing as they were “catering to a demand for more local, independent, knowledgable people offering a new-ish concept”.
He said the trend was creating new chains, including the franchise business Hotpod Yoga and Foundry Fit, which started with one site in North Kensington, west London, and now has seven outlets in the capital.
Max Henderson, co-founder of Hotpod, which has 60 studios nationwide, most of which are independent businesses operated under franchise, said the group started with pop-ups in dance studios or vacant shops, before opening its first site in 2013, in Hackney, east London. It now has sites from Edinburgh to Exeter, with plans for 25 more in the near future.
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He said changes to the planning regulations to enable alternative uses of high street properties had helped Hotpod expand, taking it beyond big cities into towns and villages. “It’s much easier to take over a shop,” he said. “The kind of death of the high street has almost meant the amount of availability has really shot up.”
The pandemic also created a desire for closer links to local businesses, Henderson said: “People have become more discerning. They don’t just want to tick a box and do a yoga class. They want something really brilliant.”
Huw Edwards, the chief executive of the health trade body ukactive, said the rise of mini-gyms was part of a wider growth in demand for fitness facilities. It’s research found memberships at private facilities increased by 10% between 2022 and 2024, while attendance of local authority-run leisure centres also rose.
“We know many people value the social side of being active as part of a community, but the development of micro-gyms provides another option in a sector rich with consumer choice,” he said.