The Gym Group has beaten its goal of generating £900 million in social value annually one year early.

The low cost, high value operator is the UK’s first private chain to measure social value and in 2024 alone it generated £962 million. This was up from £890 million in 2023.

When founding the chain in 2007, John Treharne’s mission was to make fitness accessible to everyone and ESG – an increasingly important metric in attracting investment – has remained high on its agenda.

Quoted in the annual report, Treharne says: “Our social value measure shows continued progress to record levels in 2024 as the frequency with which our members visit and our gyms continue to increase. We are delighted to have exceeded our target of £900 million of social value created a year early.

“Through our purpose of breaking down barriers to fitness for all, we aim to continue to lead our sector in ESG and are proud to have entered a long term partnership with NHS Charities Together.”

The company was named as one of the Best Places to Work in the UK in the 2024’s Sunday Times survey and the employee engagement score carried out in Q4 2024 had increased to 9 out of 10, up from 8.5 in 2023.

The Gym Group has a target of supporting 500 people to gain a Level 3 PT qualification by 2030 and achieve a 60 per cent internal promotion rate by the end of 2025 among its operational staff.

“Our highly engaged and high performing teams are critical to our winning proposition, delivering a positive member experience, driving frequency of visits and supporting our growth plan,” says CEO, Will Orr.

The Gym Group is also the first global gym chain with a net zero target verified by the Science Based Targets initiative. It aims to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and Scope 3 emissions per gym by 55 per cent by 2030.

Now the company is intent on achieving gender equality with 40 per cent female senior leaders in place this year. By 2030, it is aiming for a 50/50 gender balance, as well as having 20 per cent of its leadership being of ethnically diverse origin.

Tamsin Todd joins on 1 May as non-executive director, joining the Audit & Risk, Remuneration, Nomination and Sustainability Committees. Todd’s vast experience spans business strategy, product management and technology. She has previously held high-ranking roles at Microsoft and Amazon, and has been managing director at TUI Group and CEO of Findmypast.

Last month the company upgraded its guidance after releasing strong year-end results.