Basic-Fit has opened its 600th club in France in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region. The fitness chain – which is also active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain – now operates 1,109 clubs and plans to launch its first facility in Germany later this year. The company’s long-term goal is to have 3,500 clubs by 2030.

“I’m proud we reached the 600th club milestone in France. With more new clubs in France and our other countries opening this year, we’re on track to reach 1,250 clubs for the group by the end of 2022,” said CEO, René Moos. “Thanks to our high-value and affordable proposition, in France, but also in our other countries, we’re witnessing a strong momentum for fitness.”

According to Moos, anyone living in a French city with a population over 30,000 (apart from the Île de France region where Paris is located) can access at least one Basic-Fit club. The business targets the low-cost market with a monthly membership fee that starts at €19.99 for four weeks. As member sign-ups increase – in Q1 of 2022 they were up by 46 per cent with more than 400,000 registrations – the company is focusing on expanding into smaller French towns as well.

“We’re keen to continue our development, opening clubs in smaller cities and more rural areas, where many French people will finally have access to our spacious and well-equipped clubs,” said Susanne de Schepper-Veerkamp, operations director of Basic-Fit in France. “We know the pandemic has raised awareness of the importance of having a daily sports routine. We hope that this 600th opening will help motivate more French people to get active anytime, anywhere.”

Earlier this year, the company celebrated opening of a record 72 clubs in Q1 of 2022. This was a welcome turnaround following the challenges the company faced during the pandemic, which Moos described as Basic-Fit’s “toughest year”.

“Our member base is higher than prior to the pandemic,” said Moos. “We now have more than 2.85m memberships, of which 1.5m are in France.”