Multi-brand wellness operator Evolution Wellness plans to launch new concepts and brands into the Asian market – as well as a rapid expansion of its low-cost brand GoFit.

Speaking exclusively to HCM, CEO Simon Flint said the fitness behemoth would use "it's size" to lead the way in developing the Asian market.

Evolution Wellness was established in 2017 following the merging of Celebrity Fitness and Fitness First Asia and the company currently has 175 clubs operating under six brands in six countries – Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Flint says the company is now looking to act as a pioneering force for the region's wellness market – as well as pondering "going global" with some of its brands

"I believe we must use the size of our platform to educate the market, helping people to understand that including a variety of exercise modalities in their life is likely the best path to optimum wellness," he said.

"Thinking out of the box – as our Evolution Wellness remit allows us to do – I envisage a next chapter that will focus on low inflammatory regimes and low oxidative stress lifestyles, encompassing everything from diet and the air we breathe to the amount of sleep we get and the kind of exercise we do."

Flint added that the company is also looking to rapidly grow its existing brands.

"The real focus for growth will be our low-cost model GoFit and the boutique concept Fire," he said.

"We don’t really work to a five-year plan, and I don’t want to pull numbers out of the sky but, for example, it’s not unrealistic to think we could – through the franchise model – have a 1,000 GoFits in that sort of timeframe.

"We currently have three Fire studios in Malaysia, but will ultimately operate the concept in all of our six markets.

"We can also play globally, and indeed have already had interest from as far away as Russia."

In the wide-ranging interview, Flint also reveals that the company is expecting "steady growth" for the Fitness First and Celebrity Fitness brands – and revealed plans for its wellness-focused Fivelements estate.

To read the full interview, click here for Issue 1 2020 of HCM.