PureGym‘s expansion plans are set to accelerate, with the Leeds-based chain targeting more than 750 new locations over the coming years and confirming it is on track to open around 60 new gyms worldwide in 2026, having already launched 17 in the first six months of the year.
The chain currently operates 728 gyms in total: 467 in the UK, 128 in Denmark, 61 in the US, 49 in Switzerland, plus a franchise agreement covering Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Of the 17 new sites opened in the first half of 2026, 15 were in the UK.
Strong financials behind the PureGym expansion plans
The financial results for the six months to 30 June show the business moving in the right direction. Underlying earnings rose 23% to £123.6 million, while revenues climbed 6% to £393 million and membership grew 3% year-on-year to 2.44 million. On a statutory basis the company remained loss-making, but narrowed those losses to £20.7 million from £47.9 million in the same period a year earlier.
Those numbers follow a strong 2025, in which PureGym opened a record 60 new gyms, ending the year with 714 sites and membership of 2.3 million, according to Health Club Management. The 2026 openings target matches that record pace.
Chief executive Alex Wood said the long-term picture for the sector remains attractive. ‘Consumers are placing ever greater importance on their health and wellbeing, while the increasing availability of convenient and affordable gyms is bringing more people into fitness,’ he said. Wood added that the company sees ‘substantial whitespace’ across its existing markets and the Republic of Ireland, and believes there are ‘more than 750 high-quality sites we can open over the coming years.’
Women’s spaces, new formats and PureGym’s next international market
One of the more visible changes inside PureGym’s UK clubs is the roll-out of dedicated women’s workout areas. The company added these spaces to another 20 gyms in the six months to the end of June, bringing the UK total to 73. PureGym said it has accelerated the programme following a ‘positive reception to these dedicated training spaces designed to boost female members’ comfort and confidence.’
Beyond the women’s spaces, the company is exploring further changes to what its gyms actually offer. Health Club Management reports that PureGym is currently looking at Relax and Recover zones and reformer Pilates studios, as well as introducing smaller-footprint gyms suited to lower-density areas. None of those formats has been confirmed as a firm rollout yet, but they point to a business thinking beyond its traditional large-floorplate model.
The most concrete piece of international news concerns the Republic of Ireland. According to HCM Summit, the first Irish gym is planned for Dublin in 2027, making Ireland PureGym’s next new national market. Wood has spoken publicly about Ireland as part of the ‘substantial whitespace’ the group sees beyond 2026.
Wood himself is relatively new to the chief executive role, though far from new to the business. Health Club Management notes he has been with PureGym since September 2018 and has been involved in key moments of its international growth, including the acquisition of Fitness World in Denmark and the acquisition of Blink Fitness in the US in 2024-2025.
The scale of what PureGym is now describing gives some sense of how much the budget gym sector has changed. A chain of 728 sites across five countries, with plans for hundreds more and a first Irish opening confirmed for Dublin in 2027, is a different proposition from the single-club operation the brand started as. Whether the pipeline of 750-plus sites gets built will depend on site availability, planning and economic conditions, but the current financial trajectory, with earnings up nearly a quarter in a single half-year, gives the company a firm base from which to pursue it.
