There has been somewhat of a revolution in the UK health and fitness industry over the last 24 months.

The rather depressed health club market presented an opportunity for a continental concept, proven in the US and Germany, to expand into the UK.

The low-cost budget gym model of value for money, no frills, limited service but high quality offer, has exploded across the country.

Companies such as The Gym, Pure Gym, Fitness4Less, Fitspace and Gym4All have all started to expand rapidly across the country. The early evidence suggests things are looking good. My own work with The Gym has seen it secure eight sites in 18 months, Pure Gym has secured five sites and Fitspace, arguably the UK's first low-cost model, has eight locations. The current locations seem to be highly cash generative and membership figures continue to be extremely high with very low attrition rates, all of which promises further growth.

Yet one of the key questions hanging over the sector is how sustainable the growth remains for clubs of this size in the UK with so much competition.

The model appears to work on the basis of towns with a population of over 100,000, therefore this suggests approximately 105 towns/cities are suitable for this type of operation.

The real issue arises in towns such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham etc where operators compete head-to-head. Take for example Manchester where both The Gym and Pure Gym have entered the market and are trading successfully. Would a third operator dare enter into this competitive market and compete with two established operators? Would they be able to secure funding?

Arguably, there could only be one or two national chains which could secure sites in the major cities pushing smaller operators out into the provincial towns where it will be crucial to appeal to the smaller market, therefore is it a question of a race to see who can expand the quickest?

The key for success will be to provide a quality offer, managed well and popular with consumers - something which is not always straightforward in the health and fitness sector. Only time will tell who will succeed but it is sure to be an interesting time for the low-cost gym model in the UK.