US gym chain, Crunch Fitness, has bolstered its global expansion plans with the appointment of John Kersh as managing director of international development.

Kersh has more than 25 years of experience in the fitness and franchising business, most recently as the chief international development officer at Xponential Fitness where he was responsible for the global expansion of a number of boutique brands, including Pure Barre, Club Pilates, CycleBar and StretchLab. During his time at Xponential, he closed master franchise agreements in 20 countries, including taking Rumble and AKT to Japan and four brands to Kuwait.

Prior to that, Kersh held executive development roles for Self-Esteem Brands, Anytime Fitness and IHRSA (now the Health and Fitness Association.)

In his new role, Kersh will be responsible for the high value, low-cost brand’s international expansion strategy and identifying global growth franchise partners.

“With John’s exceptional background and proven track record in the fitness industry, his addition to Crunch opens the door for even more opportunity when it comes to growing our brand on a global scale, which is something we’re highly focused on,” says Jim Rowley, CEO of Crunch Worldwide.

President of Crunch, Chequan Lewis, said the company is looking forward to more success and growth this year: “Having John join our team is another step in the right direction. We’re keeping a foot on the gas pedal as we look to drive new openings, both domestically and internationally.”

Crunch already has gyms in a number of countries, including Canada, Spain, Portugal and Australia, but is looking to expand into new territories. As it celebrates its 35th anniversary, there are currently 460 gyms and 2.5 million members. It is targeting three million members and 500 clubs by the end of the year.

Like many companies, Crunch’s expansion plans were stalled by the pandemic. It received investment from the private equity group TPG in 2019. At that point, Crunch owned more than 300 clubs, with 1.3 million members, and had plans to use the investment to double in size within five years.