Stephen Aucott completes MBO at Odyssey Health Club & Spa

Odyssey Health Club & Spa has undergone a management buy-out with long-term manager, Stephen Aucott, taking ownership.

The high-end club in Knebworth UK was established in the 1990s and includes a gym with state-of-the-art Technogym equipment, a 25 metre indoor swimming pool with sauna and steamrooms, a spa, outdoor tennis courts, a recently-added relaxation room and café, which serves produce grown on site.

Aucott, who has has overseen the running of the club since 2004, was backed by Allica Bank, which specialises in small and medium-sized businesses, with a £3 million loan to buy the business from Odyssey Group Holdings. It will continue to be known as Odyssey Health Club & Spa.

After losing 1,000 members as a result of the lockdowns, membership is now back to pre-pandemic levels, partly as a result of investment such as the Technogym Biostrength range that uses AI to personalise strength training to individual members.

“My team and I have been helping keep Knebworth fit and healthy for over two decades,” says Aucott. “This news means I can invest in expanding our offering and improving our members’ experience with a new sense of purpose. Having the opportunity to take full control of the business presents us with an incredibly exciting future.”

The club is surrounded by several acres. In 2019, planning permission was granted for 86 houses and around 6.5 acres – of the original 11 acres – was sold to a local company, Croudace Homes.