30/06/2024
Help: Save Our Gym
Firstly, can I thank you for taking time to read through this lengthy post and secondly this is NOT an ask for any kind of financial help.
Some reading this will already know but for those who don’t, my name is Ray and I own a large independent bodybuilding and fitness gym in the heart of Middleton Manchester called Manchester Muscle Academy. We have now been open since November 2013 and have a very large number of members of all ages, s*x, nationalities, race, who are all at their own stages and levels of fitness, size, condition and commitment, we also have regular numbers of people who just call in to have a session or two with us without having a membership
In 2013 I invested all my life’s savings in setting up the gym and purchased every piece of equipment, hardware, fixtures and fittings new, nothing was or is rented or leased only the building we occupy, which at the time was just an empty shell of a building.
I had a lot of help from some amazing friends/family in turning the building into the gym it is today.
This may sound strange to some but the reason for me wanting to open a gym in the first place was not for financial reasons, it was for me to offer something back to the community I have lived in all my life, and to hopefully allow access for everyone and anyone to gain experiences similar to what I have over the years when attending bodybuilding and fitness gyms
If any of you reading this has ever used gym facilities you will know that feeling you get when you have put the hard work in and pushed yourself to the limit or managed a personal best or training goal, or that feeling you get when you see your body and feel your mind changing or when someone you have not seen for a while says to you “wow you look good, what you been up to”?
plus so many other things going to a good gym can offer, a sense of discipline, friendship, community spirit, a feeling of just fitting in with something.
And all this, and more, is what I experienced through attending gyms in my early life, and the help it gave me with my mental health as well as my physical health was unparalleled and I wanted as many others as possible to gain their own similar experiences by attending our gym.
When we first opened our doors it was only £14 per month standing order (so no contracts) or £3 per session.
All our supplements were from premium brands and costs were kept to the bare minimum, so you could call in for a session, have a pre workout drink, train for as long as you wanted and then have a quality branded protein drink afterwards all for £5.
And that was the ethos, the ethics, the challenge that we were aiming for, I wanted the gym to be accessible and affordable for everyone and anyone, young or old and everyone in between.
Guess what? We achieved it, I have had so many people say to me over the years “this is the best gym I have ever trained in” or “coming here has probably saved my life as it has helped so much with my mental health” the feedback we have received over the years, and continue to receive to this day, has been nothing short of amazing, so a big thank you to all for that
I know we could never compete with the big corporate gyms as they have multi-million pounds to invest so their equipment and facilities are way better than ours, but they could never compete with us with our community atmosphere, spirit and friendships and this has been echoed by so many who have used our gym and continue to use it
Over the years we have supported local businesses where and when we could, we have sponsored local youth teams and we have worked closely with local schools and colleges with supporting work experience opportunities.
However and unfortunately, over the years we have had some major challenges we have had to fight and overcome, we had a big corporate gym open up in the Shopping Centre, just 2 minutes around the corner, and they poached more than half of our members in the matter of weeks, and this impacted me financially so so much, but with help of some amazing friends and a small increase in our charges we survived.
Then just as people were coming back to us (after being tied into 12 months contracts with the big corporate gym) COVID hit us. We had to close for many months, as I am sure you will remember, but I had no help from the landlords or the local council and again that impacted me financially as I still had to pay thousands of pounds in rent per month, but again with help we survived
So now to the reason for this message,
I work full time for our great NHS and have done for 20+ years, and with the support of so many who use our gym, friends, family etc, we have managed to stabilise things financially, so the gym has become financially self-sufficient, it doesn’t make money but it doesn’t lose money.
I know with a better business plan and some better commitment and hard work the gym could easily become more profitable, and that was always my hope, I wanted Manchester Muscle to be the brand name and branch out into active/sports clothing and sports supplements etc. unfortunately I just do not have the time with things going on in my personal life and my work life, so I have left the gym to be run as it is and to be cost neutral for me.
Our lease for the unit we rent expired end of November 2023 so I have been in negotiations with the landlords since, in an attempt to gain a further 5 or 10 year lease agreed and signed, but this is where the issue is.
We are currently paying £32k inc VAT per year for rent and service charges, but now the landlords are being extremely aggressive with their financial demands on us for a new lease. Their best offer to us is now £60k inc VAT per year with an increase of 3% per year on top of that , and I have to sign or they will evict us from the unit as soon as they can.
I have tried everything I can think of in an attempt to get them to lower their demands but to no avail. I have had basic legal advice conversations and apparently the landlords can charge whatever they want, irrelevant if it will put us out of business.
So this now means an increase of around £28k per year, on top of what we are currently paying, unfortunately I/we cannot afford these prices, we would have double the price of everything we sell and double all membership prices etc. and then hope people will still stay with us, and choose not to go elsewhere.
I just don’t think this is achievable or acceptable.
Not only would any increases we implemented, would have to be substantial (£40 to £50 per month each member), but it would also be going against our ethics of being affordable and accessible to everyone and anyone, plus if I agree to these new costs, sign a 5 year lease, then people stopped using us due to the increased costs, and given that there is a big corporate gym around the corner for £20+ per month, (and I would not blame anyone for leaving us), but then I would have to try and finance the gym from my full time job wage, which would not be achievable to keep up the rent payments, as I have my own cost of living charges, mortgage, food, and home bills etc. I have to pay
So I am now at a loss, and obviously having some very sleepless nights to say the least.
So I see my options as,
1. close the gym and try and sell all the equipment, fixtures and fittings etc. in a relatively short amount of time to satisfy the landlord with vacating the building,
2 . try and find another unit to lease in Middleton (if there are any). And move everything over and start again, obviously there would be costs to do that.
3. Or I have also had the thought; shall I reach out to our local MP and explain the situation and what I think would be a major impact on our local community if we are forced to close the gym, and see if they could have any influence and/or put pressure on the landlord?
Would it be of any benefit if I asked people to write to our local MP? I just don’t know, what do you think??
So my ask to you is, do you know of any buildings or units for lease in the Middleton area that we could move into? Or if someone is using a large unit that could possibly sub let to us and allow for us to run the gym from there??
Does anyone want to buy all the fixtures, fittings and equipment and open their own gym?
Does anyone have any close contact with our local MP's, or know how to get some time with them?
Or in general can anyone suggest anything to help?
And finally can you please share this post so it can get around to as many people as possible, as I am sure we have people using our gym that are not aware of what I am currently going through in order to save our gym
Please reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or if you can offer any help.
I really do not want to close our gym and will continue to fight for it as long as I can.
Thank you again for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely
Ray
