The Gym Group has revealed its sales jumped by a tenth in the first half of the year after increasing its prices and topping one million members.

The low-cost gym operator reported revenues of £133 million for the first six months of 2026, up by 10% compared with the same period a year ago.

Membership numbers topped one million during the period but by the end of June it had 991,000, which was 4% more than June last year and 7% more than the end of 2025.

The uplift in sales was also driven by higher prices for new and some existing members, with a standard membership increasing to £26.91 on average in June compared with £25.10 the prior year.

This pushed up average revenues from each member by 5% year on year.

The Gym Group, which ran 264 gyms at the end of June, opened four new gyms in the first half and said it was expecting to have at least 20 openings in total this year.

It is also expecting to have refurbished 21 gyms this year – with changes such as to the lighting design, improving changing rooms and welcome spaces, and introducing more women’s workout zones.

“The aim is to make the gyms feel a bit more premium, a bit more memorable, but still delivered with strong cost control so that we remain high value, low cost,” chief executive Will Orr told the Press Association.

Mr Orr said the latest membership price increases reflected “the ongoing investment and improvement in the product, and then also managing some inflationary aspects as well”.

“We’re in a better position that most, if not all, multi-site leisure retailers, but we’re not totally immune to some inflation,” he said.

This refers to costs like staff salaries and electricity bills which have helped push up the company’s overall cost base.

Pre-tax profits for the group nonetheless surged by 48% year-on-year to £4.9 million.

Meanwhile, The Gym Group has said it is set to benefit from the increasing use of GLP-1s in the UK.

Mr Orr said a gym programme can complement the weight-loss treatment, which works by reducing appetites, through “muscle mass and strength and sustaining fitness habits over the longer run”.

“It’s an interesting trend and a natural tailwind for us as well,” he told PA.

The chief executive added: “Reaching one million members during the period was an encouraging milestone for the group.

“I’ve also been pleased to see our elevated gym design supporting performance gains in both new and refurbished gyms.”

Mr Orr said the company was expecting to report financial results for the full year at the “top end” of analysts’ current forecast range – which is for adjusted earnings to come in between £60.5 million and £62 million.