Total Fitness gym chain shuts

The Total Fitness gym chain has closed down, and a liquidator is to be appointed.

The company's three Dublin gyms - in Castleknock, Malahide Road and Sandyford - shut down late last night. It is understood that around 100 jobs have been lost and that staff received no warning of the closure.

A statement on Totalfitness.ie confirms Centre Operators Limited, the company behind the gyms, has been wound up with effect from midnight on Wednesday. It blamed high rents for its demise.

"A liquidator will be appointed in due course and will deal with all queries in relation to outstanding memberships," the statement reads. The company said it was loss-making and that a "major factor" in this was that it was paying rents that were "significantly higher than market value".

The statement added the company had attempted unsuccessfully to renegotiate the rents with its landlord. "We very much regret the closure, that it has become necessary to make redundancies and that members have been affected," the statement concludes.

Once a liquidator is appointed, members of the chain who have paid joining fees and subscription charges will become creditors of the company.

Centre Operators Limited was a subsidiary of the UK-based Total Fitness Group.

The ownership of the parent company changed hands last October, when it went into administration and was bought by Barclays Ventures from its private equity owners on the same day.

Although the Irish holding company was still solvent and was not subject to the administration proceedings, it was also bought by Barclays for £1 at this time. This allowed the Irish clubs to stay open for a time, as the Irish subsidiary was being funded by the UK-based parent.

Since then the group has been run by a management team led by Graham Hallworth.

The Lancashire Evening Post reported earlier this week that Total Fitness in Lancaster closed suddenly on Tuesday.

Accounts filed at the Companies Office show that the Irish subsidiary made a loss of almost €767,000 in the year to the end of March 2009. Its net assets were valued at €3.7 million at this time. It earned €474,305 in joining fees during the 12 months and €8.1 million in subscriptions.

During this period, the Irish gyms employed 95 people full-time and a further 20 on a part-time basis.

The Total Fitness chain first opened in Castleknock in 1996. It later expanded into the UK, where it had 21 clubs at the time of its purchase by Barclays.

The business peaked in 2008, when the gym group's revenues and profitability began to be affected by the onset of recession.