Rod Hill, former president of TRIB3 and director general of Anytime Fitness Iberia, has signed a master franchise agreement with énergie Fitness to develop 75 clubs in Spain over the next 10 years.

Hill will share the master franchisee contract with George Houtenbos, another long-time fitness industry leader and co-founder of Basic Fit Spain. Hill has been named as executive president of the new venture, while Houtenbos will take up the role as CEO.

The duo will lead the business day-to-day, with support from financial partner Eric Kakebeen, an entrepreneur with a career in the specialty food sector.

The first site to be developed under the franchising agreement has been secured in Barcelona and will open at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

Jan Spaticchia, founder of énergie Fitness – who led a successful MBO to buy the business back in June this year – says the securing of a master franchisee for Spain will resume the brand's international growth, which has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is an important move to expand our international footprint since the acquisition in the summer and signals the énergie board’s confidence in the long-term potential of the international markets beyond the pandemic," Spaticchia said.

Rod Hill said: “Although this is a challenging time for the fitness industry globally, we see the opportunity to develop a high service, affordable, convenience model which has been adapted to the demands of the fitness consumer in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

HCM believes that a further announcement on énergie's international expansion will follow in a matter of weeks.