Austrian entrepreneur, Alois Fauster, who operates six clubs across Austria, has been reunited with a club he established four years ago.

City Fitness was launched in October 2000 by Fauster and a partner in St Poelten, 50km west of Vienna.

The partnership was dissolved in 2001 and Fauster’s former business partner continued to manage the club with other investors. In November 2003, the business went bankrupt and the club was closed. Fauster acquired the site for “a very low price”, installed new equipment and is now concentrating on growing the business again. Rebranded as Lifeline, Fuster is running the club with two new business partners. The 15,000 sq m facility has been equipped with Precor and attracted 300 members within the first four weeks of opening. Membership costs r940 per month and the target membership is 1,000.

This January also saw the launch of Fauster’s first low cost fitness concept. Located in Graz, Fit-Inn offers both cv and resistance training. The site offers no fitness classes or wellness facilities and showers and instructor training costs extra. The site is equipped with Precor, Life Fitness and Gym 80 and attracted 1,000 members within the first six weeks of opening. Fauster has plans for another Fit-Inn in Vienna.