DW Sports Fitness

DW Sports Fitness is a British retailing and fitness business. Founded in March 2009 when Dave Whelan purchased the 50 JJB Sports Fitness Clubs and the attached retail stores for £83.4 million.[3] At the time all the sites were shared between a fitness club and retail store, with most cases seeing the fitness club downstairs and the retail store upstairs. Since that time the group has grown to encompass more than 140 sites, including stand-alone retail stores and stand-alone fitness clubs.[1]

DW Sports Fitness
TypeLimited
IndustryRetailing and fitness clubs
Founded13 March 2009 (2009-03-13)
HeadquartersWigan, Greater Manchester, England
Number of locations
73 gyms (43 branded as Fitness First)
75 stores (all closing)[1]
Key people
Dave Whelan
ProductsSporting goods
Revenue£139.4 million [2]
£3.9 million
Number of employees
1700+[1] (2020)
SubsidiariesDW Sports Fitness Clubs, DW Sports Retail Stores
Websitewww.dwsports.com
www.dwfitnessclubs.com

In August 2020 it announced that it was to enter administration.[1] Later that month it was announced that Frasers Group would buy "certain" assets from DW Sports Fitness for £37m, but would not be using the firm's brand name.[4]

History

Association with Intersport

In April 2011, in an effort to boost the profile of their retail stores DW Sports joined the international buying group Intersport.[5] As a result, the Intersport logo was incorporated into the DW Sports Fitness fascias.

Retail sites

In November 2012, the first stand-alone DW Sports retail site opened. Located at the Grand Arcade shopping centre in Wigan, it occupies the former JJB unit.[6]

In November 2012, in the wake of JJB Sports's demise. Mike Ashley's Sports Direct was rumoured to have purchased 60 JJB sites for a reported £30 million,[7] leaving the other 120+ stores in the former JJB portfolio. Some reports say DW Sports is not interested in acquiring any further JJB units,[8] whilst others say that they are.[9]

As of March 2020 the group operated 75 retail stores.

Fitness

In 2016, DW Sports Fitness acquired all 62 Fitness First clubs in the UK from Oaktree Capital Management, selling 14 of those and continuing to operate 48 under the Fitness First brand.[10]

As of August 2020 DW Sports Fitness operate 73 gyms, 43 of them under the Fitness First brand.

2020 administration

In June 2020 the company announced that 25 retail stores would be closing down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

On 3 August 2020 it announced that it was to enter administration with all stores eventually closing, and that it was working with the administrators to save some of the gyms from closure.[1] The 43 gyms operating under the Fitness First brand would be unaffected by the administration as they are operated within a separate company.[1] The website closed with immediate effect on 3 August and closing down sales started in their stores on the same day.[1]

On 24 August 2020, it was announced that the company founded by Dave Whelan's long time rival Mike Ashley, Frasers Group, would buy 46 leisure clubs and 31 retail outlets from DW Sports Fitness for £37m, but would not be using the firm's brand name.[4] 922 jobs out of the 1700 would be saved as part of the Frasers Group deal.[4]

References
  1. "DW Sports gym chain collapse threatens 1,700 jobs". BBC News. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. "Insider News North West – Whelan's DW Sports limbers up for further expansion". Insidermedia.com. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  3. Thompson, James (26 March 2009). "Whelan buys JJB's gym clubs for £83m - Business News - Business". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  4. "Mike Ashley buys long-time rival's sports business". BBC News. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  5. Goldfingle, Gemma (1 April 2011). "DW Sports joins buying group Intersport". Retail Week. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  6. "sports weight gain diet chart". neerfit.com. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  7. Zoe Wood (27 September 2012). "Sports Direct thrashes out deal to buy 60 JJB Sports stores | Business". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  8. "My sadness at JJB Sports demise - Whelan". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  9. Goldfingle, Gemma (31 August 2012). "JJB founder Whelan signals interest in up-for-sale retailer". Retail Week. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  10. Hill, Laura (4 October 2016). "DW Sports Scoops Up Fitness First UK For £70M". Well To Do. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
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