Empowered Brands announces opening of first of anticipated 250 clubs amidst impressive post-Covid network sales of £33 million

Empowered Brands, the Milton Keynes’ headquartered fitness franchise investor spearheading the growth of the UK’s leading gym franchise, Energie Fitness, which has over 80 clubs and 114,000 members across the UK and Ireland, today announced the launch of an exciting new, innovative boxing and strength training concept to the UK, UBX.

Opening this Thursday, March 30th, in Media City, Salford, its first site as a franchisor is to be launched by local co-owners and franchisees Ben Waldron and James Worrall as a landmark moment for Empowered Brands.

Amidst announced post-Covid network sales of £33 million across its Energie Fitness portfolio, the ambition is to open 250 UBX clubs within six to eight years, its next six confirmed clubs expected to open their doors before the end of September.

As the world’s fastest growing boxing and strength training concept, UBX was co-founded in 2016 by four-time world champion Australian boxer Danny Green, and fitness and tech entrepreneur Tim West, and now boasts over 90 clubs across Australia, New Zealand & Singapore.

The innovative concept is based on a unique blend of non-contact group boxing and strength training, backed by science, delivered by world class coaches, and with convenience, enjoyment and results at its core.

Inclusive for all and with new workouts daily, there are no class timetables or bookings required as an ultra-flexible model which uses intelligent programming to make waitlists, late charges and inconvenience a thing of the past.  As an elite training experience, members can simply arrive when they want, choose a round, and will always have coaches guide them from start to finish as an easy-to-learn, full-body workout in under 45 minutes.

It is the brand’s mission to take boxing and transform it from an individual pursuit, into a team culture, John Jempson, managing director of UBX Boxing + Strength, UK & Ireland, and chief financial officer at Empowered Brands, explains: “Convenience, variety and trainer support are among the top three priorities when it comes to selecting a fitness activity, and UBX delivers on them like no other concept.”

Jempson adds: “UBX is an environment where results are just an additional benefit to pure enjoyment – through the combination of team-based training and coach interaction, our clubs will be communities, where anyone can learn new skills, working with each other towards a collective goal and going away with a sense of achievement following every session.”

The opening of the first UBX franchised site comes at a time when demand is clearly there from consumers too, with membership levels across their Energie Fitness portfolio having recovered to 114% of pre-covid levels.

“We’ve opened 22 Energie Fitness clubs since March 2020 across the UK, Ireland and Spain,”, explains Jempson.

He adds: “With movement towards flexible work schedules and an increased demand for social connection, not to mention a boom in interest for skills-based classes and boutique fitness across the industry, we’re expecting impressive results across our UBX Boxing + Strength franchises. Convenience wise, the model is completely unrivaled too, which means exceptional retention.”

Jempson is also keen to emphasize the unique opportunity UBX’s flexible model presents to potential franchisees, which he expects to be a driving force in helping Empowered Brands open no fewer than 22 clubs across both UBX and Energie Fitness this year, and 30 to 40 clubs a year through the next six to eight years.

Jempson comments: “The UBX model is unique because such a small space is required as compared to other fitness franchise investments, only around 1,500sq ft a club, but possible member capacity is high. Start-up capital required is low too, in the region of £130k - £200k factoring an initial personal investment from franchise owners starting from £40,000, but it’s a high returning financial model, easy to operate and highly scalable.”

He adds: “We support franchisees with funding, systems, technology, marketing, operations and infrastructure too – with over 20 years’ experience in the industry, we think this level of support and sophistication underlies why we are one of the most disruptive brands across health, fitness and well-being.”

Pietro Nicholls, chairman of Empowered Brands adds: “The predictability of UBX’s franchise model makes it an attractive prospect to franchisees. When you consider investing in one’s health and well-being is an essential consumer spending item too, we are extremely excited to commence the roll out of UBX clubs across the UK.”

Each new UBX club expected to require a minimum of 3-5 members of staff, the 250-club rollout could generate in the region of 1,250 new jobs as an exciting moment for the UK fitness and leisure industry.