Total Fitness is looking to expand its operations and upgrade its club portfolio after securing a £6.5m loan from OakNorth Bank.

The health club operator will use the fund to refurbish several of its clubs and to "support future growth opportunities beyond the core health club business".

Total Fitness currently operates 15 health and fitness clubs across the North of England and Wales with a total membership of more than 93,000.

Sophie Lawler, CEO of Total Fitness, commented: “As a team with an exciting story and a unique strategy for the future, we've been thoughtful about the right partner to support us through this next chapter.

"Our experience with OakNorth was hugely exciting – we found them to be dynamic and entrepreneurial, but with an appreciation for rich insight and considerate decision-making.

"Total Fitness creates spaces and opportunities for members to achieve more than they thought possible through fitness – we operate superscale health clubs in the North of England and Wales, although our ambitions expand way beyond that model of club and we’re delighted to have OakNorth partner with us for the future,” she said.

The deal represents a strong bounceback for Total Fitness, which in March 2021 went through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) after it lost more than a 20 per cent of its members during pandemic lockdowns.

Total Fitness was backed by private equity firm, NorthEdge Capital, in 2015.