Diss gym reports significant drop in membership drop ahead of opening this week

The owner of a Diss gym has warned of a “financially testing time” after reporting a significant drop in membership ahead of its reopening next week.

Despite freezing payments from its 700 members when it closed back in March, around 150 members have cancelled their memberships at Diss Fit Club, with many doing so following the Government’s announcement that gyms could reopen from July 25.

Paul Lawrence, who has run the gym since September 2016, suggested that the exodus was down to people being apprehensive about contracting coronavirus, especially amongst those who are shielding, coupled with an upsurge in home fitness.

“Financially it’s going to be a very testing time,” said the 46-year-old father-of-four. “Since the Government announced gyms would reopen, I’ve had members cancelling their memberships because they are still shielding.

“I think another reason could be that some people will have invested a significant amount of money in gym equipment to use at home.

“On the plus side, a lot of people have decided to start running or exercising during lockdown, so hopefully they’ll start coming now.”

The impact of lockdown has dealt a devastating blow to the gym industry as a whole, with GymGroup, one of the UK’s biggest gym companies, announcing this week that it had lost 178,000 members during lockdown – a fifth of its entire membership.

In line with government requirements, Mr Lawrence (pictured) has introduced a number of measures to ensure his gym, in Hopper Way, is completely ‘Covid-secure’ ahead of its reopening next week.

He said: “Every piece of equipment must be cleaned down, post and pre-workout.

“Every member will be given their own bottle of antiviral spray, and I’m getting blue roll for them to wipe things down with.

“There’s no sweat towels, because of cross contamination, or gym bags. Showers and changing rooms won’t be closed, but the Government still wants everyone to come ‘gym ready’.”