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Retail & Consumer

Bridges Ventures flexes its muscles

Article Date:  Jun 30 2008 Nick Britton

A provider of low-cost gyms has received an investment of £1 million from Bridges Ventures, the venture capital firm ‘with a social mission’. The Gym will offer fitness facilities in poorer areas for a price of £14.99 per month with no membership contract.

The Gym’s first branch opens today, 30 June, in the Blenheim Centre in Hounslow, London. It already has 5,000 members signed up and will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Anne-Marie Harris, investment director at Bridges, comments: ‘About 12 per cent of the UK population are members of a gym, but research indicates this figure could increase significantly if high membership fees were not so restrictive.’

According to market research company Mintel, gym membership in the UK is currently more expensive than anywhere else in Europe.

Bridges Ventures invests in companies located in the most deprived 25 per cent of the UK which can demonstrate strong social benefits in sectors such as healthcare, education, the environment and ‘ethical business’.

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