EQL Fitness announces ambitious expansion plans including new Wembley Park premises
EQL Fitness, a community-focused premium gym operator, has launched an investment fundraise to expand its brand as it aims to open up to 10 new locations over the next four years. After launching CrossFit Putney, the UK’s first premium CrossFit gym in 2019, EQL Fitness will open a new a second London premises at the £3bn, 85-acre Wembley Centre in 2022. The new, 30,000 square foot gym will cater to more than 2,000 new members within the development, which will be the UK’s largest-ever build-to-rent scheme.
EQL Fitness also intends to target the wider UK gym market, valued at over £5bn, by launching a new platform that uses AI (artificial intelligence), AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) to deliver online fitness sessions to subscribers. Together with their technology partner Threedium, they will also be entering the metaverse and launching a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection for the fitness community.
The company was founded by Michael Thorburn and Mateja Mitrovic, two fitness enthusiasts who, perhaps unsurprisingly, met in a gym. They saw a gap in the market for uniting the expanding CrossFit training methodology with the boutique gym environment to create a premium community-focused CrossFit gym that focuses on member experience.
They turned that vision into reality when they launched EQL Fitness and opened CrossFit Putney in 2019. With the new Wembley premises, the pair aim to broaden their offering and take their brand to the next level.
The investment generated from this investment round will go towards the fit out of the Wembley premises which will feature premium CrossFit training facilities, including state of the art Technogym equipment with hands-on coaching support. The site will also include an in-house café, where members can relax and socialise, and a dedicated event space supported by leading fitness brands to host competitions.
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The remaining investment funds will go towards marketing support to further build the EQL Fitness brand and to develop the company’s online fitness training offering, which it is aiming to launch in July 2022.
EQL Fitness co-founder Michael Thorburn said: “Following the fantastic response to our CrossFit Putney premises, our ambition is to grow our community-focused fitness brand, initially in London and ultimately across the UK and internationally. Through this fund-raising round, we aim to take new investors and existing stakeholders with us on to the next stage of our journey.
“Our expansion into Wembley Park is a hugely exciting step forward which will put EQL Fitness at the heart of this unique and developing community. It will also provide an ideal platform for ongoing expansion, supporting our plans to open further gyms across the UK and launch our innovative online fitness platform, using AR and VR technology to deliver a great customer experience.
“As well as creating a welcoming community in our gyms, offering a premium service and boutique experience, EQL Fitness is also aiming to become a thought-leader, pushing the future of fitness.”
To find out more about the investment opportunities, visit www.eql.fitness.
