Gym chain Xercise4Less aims to bulk up in Scotland

The boss of a budget gym chain is aiming to open at least 20 sites across Scotland by 2018, creating more than 800 jobs.

Xercise4Less aims to create more than 800 jobs in its expansion drive. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Jon Wright, chief executive and owner of Xercise4Less, told The Scotsman that the chain currently has five gyms in Scotland, will reach eight this year, and is in discussions over another four or five sites.

“I’d like to think we’ll be in double figures early next year,” he said. “Scotland’s a phenomenal market for us and the clubs that we’ve got here and have been open for a couple of years have been very successful. It’s probably one of our top regions.”

The Yorkshire-based firm now has about 40 clubs across the UK, and Wright said he would like to grow its total customer base to a million, from nearly 300,000 currently.

“It’ll probably take us a few years to get there but there’s plenty of growth in this industry yet,” he said.