‘It feels like gyms are being completely ignored’

Gyms, leisure centres and fitness firms have said they are being left out of the latest government support packages.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has made an extra £1bn available for "hospitality and leisure sectors", but gyms and fitness businesses can apply for only 10% of this additional funding.

"No-one seems to care and it's heart breaking," said Sandy Macaskill, co-founder of Barry's UK.

Revenue is down 58% compared to pre-pandemic levels for the fitness firm.

Barry's UK has 8 studios but has temporarily closed three of its London sites due to low footfall.

"People aren't going into work in areas like Canary Wharf so it doesn't make financial sense to run classes there," Mr Macaskill said.

At one of the Barry's UK studios in East London, fewer than 100 people visit per day, compared to 500 pre-pandemic.

"The government genuinely doesn't understand the devastating impact on our sector," Mr Macaskill said.

Leisure trade group UKactive estimated that the sector has already lost more than £200m in revenues due to "Plan B" measures in England and a reduction in city centre footfall.

"We're an industry that keeps everyone fit and healthy but we're being completely ignored," Mr Macaskill added.

Fitness businesses say they have missed out on tax breaks open to hospitality firms.

UKactive has called for additional support such as VAT relief in line with other sectors, furlough support, and extensions to business rates relief, after Tuesday's announcement.

"The idea we haven't been as affected as pubs or restaurants is laughable and it makes no sense not to concentrate on helping sports industries in a health pandemic," Mr Macaskill said.

Even if fitness businesses had been included in the Chancellor's £6,000 grant funding, Mr Macaskill said this would have been "measly", totalling less than a days worth of revenue at one of the Barry's UK studios.

A Treasury spokesperson said the government understands gyms and sports centres may be hit by Omicron, "which is why we announced £100m in additional grants funding for councils to distribute to businesses most in need in their areas".

"This takes the total amount of available unspent grants funding to £350m, and comes on top of 75% business rates relief over the year, the recovery loan scheme, Time to Pay and the reintroduced Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme".

However, Huw Edwards, chief executive of UKactive, said a lack of sector-specific financial support would mean fitness businesses "going to the wall".

Mr Macaskill, who is worried about the prospect of a January lockdown, said the month was the business's "launchpad" from which customers were able to build momentum.

A quarter of all new joiners to gyms and leisure centres sign up in January and February, according to UKactive.

A decline in footfall this month has also worried Ashton Turner, who runs Evolve 353, an independent gym in Parsons Green, London.

Since the advice to work from home, the gym has been running at 30% capacity and Mr Turner was shocked that he had not had any enquiries for new year joiners.

He also has concerns about what further restrictions in January might mean, particularly after last year's lockdown.

"We would seriously struggle to run and I'd have to let staff go," he told the BBC.

Pre-pandemic, the gym had 147 members, which fell to 80 after the third lockdown, and despite a steady increase, has only recovered to 105 now.

Many of its members are NHS staff and "really depend" on the gym for their training and mental health, Mr Ashton said.

Leeds-based franchise PureGym, which has more than 290 UK branches and 1,000,000 members registered, has echoed calls for the government to reconsider its latest support measures.

"Unless the government takes action now to help these operators they may well not survive the coming months, which would have a direct impact on the nation's ability to improve its health," Rebecca Passmore, PureGym's UK managing director told the BBC.

Simply Gym, which runs four branches in Wales and two in England, has also seen a significant drop in attendance, with membership levels still not at pre-pandemic levels.

"The challenge is if we are open but people are too worried to visit in key January and February trading months," Simply Gym's chief executive Richard Proctor said.

Gyms are able to apply for grants from their local authorities, but Mr Proctor said this had been "inconsistent", with funding requests turned down by some local authorities but not others.

"The whole industry is really challenged by consumers not feeling confident to go out, but with better fitness, you're in a much better position to fight coronavirus."

"The long term damage to public confidence is an ongoing killer," he added.

Unlike the immediate closures of hospitality businesses, Mr Proctor said that losing sales in January would slow recovery for up to 12 months. New site acquisitions have also had to be put on hold while the business focuses on survival.

Fitness sector group the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (Cimspa) also urged the Chancellor to "rapidly rethink" the current funding and provide a "bespoke package of support".

"In the middle of a national health crisis, and in the midst of winter, it is frankly staggering that the government does not recognise the value of a sector that helps to keep the nation physically and mentally fit, and employs hundreds of thousands of people," chief executive Tara Dillon said.