Fitness First, with eight branches across the city, announced its closure on Tuesday, marking the fitness industry’s “first blood” since the government ordered all gyms to close.
An international brand based in the UK, Fitness First operates in Hong Kong under a franchise. Local operations had at least 100 workers, including about 60 trainers, and more than 10,000 members.
In a letter sent to all staff on Monday, the company announced its final closure. All employment contracts were also immediately terminated, a staff member said.
Fitness First also apologized to the staff in the letter and thanked them for their past services.
According to the staff member, all part-time staff received their pay in early February and the company will issue an official termination letter later.
The decision to close the gym chain was understood to have come after an emergency meeting recently called by senior management.
The gyms are among the specified venues that have been ordered closed since January 7, when Hong Kong entered the fifth wave of the pandemic and Omicron’s cases spiked after the birthday party of Witman Hung Wai-man, chief health officer. link for Hong Kong from Shenzhen Qianhai Authority.
According to other gym operators, a rumor has recently spread that Fitness First is going down.
Gordon Nowitzki Yau, chairman of the Hong Kong Fitness Guide research panel, said gym business has been halted for more than two months and operators aren’t even sure they can resume business before April 20, the expected “due date”. from the strict Covid curbs.
Yau went on to say that monthly rent could cost a gym hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more than millions of dollars.
He believed 100 to 150 more gyms will close later if the industry is unable to resume business by mid-April, when restrictions are supposed to be relaxed.
Another struggling gym, Goji Studios, closed in December last year. He cited Hong Kong’s Covid development and social distancing measures as the main reason for the closure.
He also added that the company had been unable to raise the necessary funds and that a consensus had not been reached after active discussions with various owners.
All remaining membership, personal trainer courses and other member services could be transitioned to another gym, Fitness & Beauty.
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