Boutique gym chain Gymbox has secured funding to double the size of its portfolio over the next year.
The group, led by Richard Hilton, has secured £10m from BGF, an investment firm set up to help growing UK businesses.
Paul Campbell, chairman of the Hawksmoor chain of steak restaurants, has also joined the board of Gymbox to help advise on the expansion.
The cash injection will enable the firm, which has five gyms in London, to open four new clubs in the capital and its first venue in the regions.
It has already agreed a deal for a new club at Helical Bar’s and Crosstree Real Estate Partners’ The Bower scheme at Old Street, EC1, which will open in October, and will soon begin work on site at Westfield Stratford, with an aim to open next March.
Talks are ongoing for two more clubs in London – one in the West End and one in south-east London – and its first venue outside the capital, in one of the UK’s northern cities.
Hilton said the firm, which traditionally seeks sites of ?about 20,000 sq ft, is now looking at designs allowing it to operate from buildings of about 12,000 sq ft.
Stephen & Matthews and Montagu Evans are advising on the expansion.
samantha.mcclary@estatesgazette.com
