Liquidator appointed to Total Fitness gym chain as 100 made redundant

THE TOTAL Fitness gym chain has closed down and a liquidator is to be appointed.

The company’s three Dublin gyms, in Castleknock, the Malahide Road and Sandyford, shut down late on Wednesday. It is understood that about 100 jobs have been lost and that staff received no warning of the closure.

A statement on Totalfitness.ie confirmed that Centre Operators Limited, the company behind the gyms, has been wound up. It blamed high rents for its demise. “A liquidator will be appointed in due course and will deal with all queries in relation to outstanding memberships,” it noted.

The company said it was loss-making and that a “major factor” in this were rents “significantly higher than market value”.

The statement added that the company had attempted unsuccessfully to renegotiate the rents with its landlord.

“We very much regret the closure, that it has become necessary to make redundancies and that members have been affected,” the statement concludes.

Once a liquidator is appointed, members of the chain who have paid joining fees and subscription charges for services that have not been provided will become creditors of the company. As part of the liquidation proceedings, it is usual for a creditors’ meeting to be held.

One member of the Sandyford gym said that as late as Wednesday she had received a reminder notice to pay a €375 annual subscription.

Centre Operators Limited was a subsidiary of Total Fitness Group, based in Cheshire in the UK.

The ownership of the parent company changed hands last October, when it went into administration and was bought by Barclays Ventures from its private equity owners on the same day.

Although the Irish holding company was still solvent and was not subject to the administration proceedings, it was also bought by Barclays for £1 at this time.

This move effectively allowed the Irish clubs to stay open for a limited time as the UK-based parent was deemed to be their only source of working capital.

Since then the group has been run by a management team led by Graham Hallworth.

Accounts filed at the companies office show that the Irish subsidiary paid €3.6 million in rent in the year to the end of March 2009.

It made an after-tax loss of almost €767,000 in this period, after a 5 per cent drop in turnover. Its net assets were valued at €3.7 million at this time.

During the 12 months, the three gyms earned €8.1 million in subscriptions, €474,300 in joining fees and €130,000 from guest passes. Turnover came to €9.97 million. The Irish gyms employed 95 full-time and a further 20 on a part-time basis.

The Total Fitness chain first opened in Castleknock in 1996 and later expanded into Britain. In 2004 the group was subject of a management buyout by its executives Robin Johnson and John Peers. The Lancashire Evening Post reported this week that Total Fitness in Lancaster closed suddenly on Tuesday.