Énergie fitness group to rebrand monster Kildare gym

There’s another big scary gym on the way. Perhaps the biggest of them all . . .

Abbey Fitness and Wellness (AFW), Irish master franchisee of the Énergie group of fitness centres famous for that advertising campaign, yesterday finalised a 10-year lease for the enormous Naas Health & Fitness centre in Co Kildare, one of the biggest gyms in the country.

It brings to 16 the number of gyms operating on the island under the umbrella of Énergie, whose name adorns the former Jackie Skelly chain of gyms that were bought out of examinership in 2009.

AFW is a division of insurance company Abbey International Finance. It has leased the huge 31,000sq ft Naas facility, which has 2,500 members, from two local businessmen, Frank Cleary and Michael McGinn.

The gym has a turnover of €1 million. In addition to the usual array of weights and machines, it has a 25m swimming pool, climbing wall, squash courts, beauty salon, and a host of other bells and whistles.

"It will be the biggest club in the network," says Jan Spaticchia, chief executive of the British-headquartered Énergie group, whose brand is utilised in scores of gyms in countries including Britain, Ireland and Latvia.

Spaticchia says things “have taken a turn for the better” in the Irish gyms market recently.

Prime Fitness, the Abbey/Énergie company that owns the nine former Skelly outlets, made a loss of €2.7 million last year, but Spaticchia says that was down to an extensive revamp and restructuring of their operations: “The Prime Fitness estate made a profit of €55,000 in the first six months of 2014.”

He says AFW and Énergie are also on target to open new gyms in Ireland at the rate of one a quarter, with a target of about 30 outlets.

Now that’s a workout . . .