Esporta announces board changes and £1bn expansion plans

Esporta, the health club chain, has announced the appointment of a new board along with plans to invest around £1bn to expand the firm over the next three to five years.

LA Fitness co-founder David Turner will become chair, Holmes Place founder Allan Fisher will become deputy chair and Glenn Timms, formerly of Diageo, will be given the chief executive role after the previous CEO, Neil Gillis, and finance director Michael Ball unexpectedly left the company in May.

Esporta, which is owned by the Syrian billionaire Simon Halabi, will also adopt a strategy to rapidly expand the chain “through a combination of organic growth and acquisition of new sites and businesses”, which will see Halabi invest around £1bn.

Halabi said: “Esporta is one of the strongest businesses in the health and fitness industry. The new owners have a commitment to develop the business into the leading chain in this sector.

“This vision will be developed by the new board, which represents a combined total experience of around 70 years in this industry, as well as strong leadership skills required for this service-based business.”