The co-founder of AJ Bell has helped invest £1m into a growing fitness franchise aiming to employ 300 members of staff within two years.
Andy Bell has backed Lancashire-based Transform Hub alongside Fergus Lyons, a former director at the FTSE 250 investment platform in Salford.
Transform Hub operates a number of training studios, aimed at the over 30s market, across the North West, Yorkshire, and London.
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The business was launched in 2018 by personal trainer James Calderbank, Wendy Barker and Justin Devonshire and pivoted to a new model in 2020 as gyms were forced to close during the pandemic.
Mr Calderbank said: "We knew there would be high demand for in-person training after lockdown and our franchise model allows owners to focus on running their own personal studios."
Transform Hub has 50 members of staff working across 20 locations, including Knutsford, Bury and Burnley - with an Altrincham studio due to open later this year.
Mr Bell, who stepped down as AJ Bell's CEO last year, said: "The impressive growth that Transform Hub has experienced made this an easy investment decision.
"The potential to scale further through a focus on new franchisees is really exciting.
"We were also impressed by the team’s resilience to pivot during Covid-19 and launch a group service which promotes positive change, both physically and mentally.
"This commitment to helping others formed part of our decision to invest, as well as being an attractive overall package."
The Transform Hub deal sees Mr Bell and Mr Lyons each take a 12.5% share in the business with the current founders retaining 75% ownership.
The move comes six months after the pair invested £1.2m into Fuel Hub, a healthy meal delivery start-up in Warrington founded by retired professional rugby player James Laithwaite and his wife.
Mr Lyons added: "The enthusiasm that James, Wendy, and the team have for changing the lives of Hub members is positively infectious.
"The traditional gym model doesn’t work for all and the level of care, support and accountability that Hubs give to members has been a huge contributor to the success story so far."
The £1m investment will go towards acquiring new franchise sites as the team aim to employ 300 people across 100 sites by 2025.
It is believed that new sites will either be greenfield, start-ups, or involve taking over distressed gyms.
Mr Calderbank said: "Our studios are typically single-sex, and we see high demand for both male and female Hubs, with community and nutritional support ranking high on the reasons why we have been so popular
"We have centralised support for franchisees including fitness programmes, nutritional support, marketing for new customers and many other resources that small business owners find distracting."
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