text: Gym Group considered buying rival Soho Gyms - Telegraph
  Gym Group considered buying rival Soho Gyms
  John Treharne, founder of The Gym Group, said his company looked at Soho Gyms but decided against making an offer
  John Treharne, the founder and chief executive of The Gym Group
  5:41PM GMT 12 Jan 2016
  Budget chain The Gym Group has considered bidding for upmarket rival Soho Gyms, the founder of the low-cost business has disclosed, as the freshly-floated company revealed that its membership soared last year after it ramped-up its expansion.
  John Treharne, who set-up The Gym Group nine years ago and is its chief executive, said the no-frills club operator looked at the privately-owned London-based chain but did not make an offer because it did not want to buy all eight of Soho Gym's sites.
  "We weren't interested in buying the whole business," Mr Treharne said, adding that Soho wanted to sell the entire group. "It's something we've looked at but at this stage we're not progressing."
  Mike Ashley's retailer Sports Direct, which is building its own chain of fitness clubs, eyed a bid for Soho last year but talks over a possible takeover ended without a deal in September. Since then, takeover speculation around Soho, which was founded by entrepreneur Jeremy Norman 22 years ago, has faded.
  Although The Gym Group decided against buying Soho, the company, which floated on the stock market in November, grew rapidly last year and opened 19 clubs, taking its total to 74 and helping to drive its membership up by 28.3pc to 376,000.
  It has ambitious plans to expand further and is aiming to open as many as 20 locations this year. The company has already signed on 12 sites and is close to securing another 21, some of which will open in 2017. A spokesman for Soho Gyms said: "We are approached numerous times every year but do not comment on these approaches or any speculation."