UK-based low-cost gym chain Xercise4Less has secured £31m ($47m) in financing, including £5m in equity funding from bank-backed venture fund Business Growth Fund (BGF), according to the Yorkshire Post.
The remaining amount was divided between £6m in asset finance and leasing facilities, and £20m in debt financing from financial services provider Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. BGF previously invested £5m in Xercise4Less in 2013 and £2m in June 2014.
The company was founded by ex-rugby player Jon Wright in 2006 and has grown to 24 gyms and 180,000 members in the UK. It has opened 15 new gyms since BGF’s first cash injection.
Wright, the chief executive of Xercise4Less, said: “We are less than half way through a five year plan, with ambitions to grow to over 100 gyms nationwide and create more than 4,000 jobs.”