Glasgow-based fitness brand Primal beefs up international presence via six-figure deal with Virgin Active in South Africa

Gym-focused business adds muscle to prestigious global client base.

A Glasgow-based fitness brand whose customers include Celtic Football Club and Soho House has secured what it says is its largest international deal to date with a major global gym chain to exclusively distribute its products in South Africa.

Primal, which specialises in designing and equipping gyms, has inked the six-figure contract with Virgin Active in South Africa to use its products – including its Performance Series plate-loaded and pin-select machines, functional studio products and dumbbells – in more than 130 health clubs in the country, with rollout having already begun. The deal complements a global customer base encompassing major gym chains, luxury hotel groups, top sports clubs, elite athletes – including two-time World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman’s Stoltman Strength Centre in Invergordon – and celebrities such as Outlander star Paul Donnelly.

Primal notes that it turned over £15.5 million in the year ending April 2023, up 300 per cent since 2019, and predicted to exceed £20m this financial year, and it aims to grow further in the UK, with an expanded salesforce joining imminently, and further strategic expansion plans overseas with new commercial distributors in the pipeline. It is already present in more than 25 countries, spanning Europe and the UAE, for example.

Primal says the six-figure deal means its products will feature in more than 130 Virgin Active health clubs across South Africa. Picture: contributed.

Primal founder and chief executive Steven Rinaldi, who led the new Virgin Active project alongside its UK team and South African distributor Omnia, hailed the latest deal, saying: “It’s taken nearly two years of product trials and negotiations to achieve our goal of supplying one of the leading global gym chains. In seven years we have taken Primal from a start-up to a major challenger on the world stage. With several high-profile deals already under our belt, bringing the brand to a global health club in an international market like this is a major achievement for us.”

Zeyd Sulaiman, head of equipment, Virgin Active South Africa, said: "Having discovered the Primal brand at [global fitness, wellness, and health trade show] FIBO 2022, we were impressed by the aesthetics, biomechanics, and overall build quality of their commercial-grade product range.”