The company behind a gymnastics centre chain established by Olympic medallist Beth Tweddle has been acquired by a group set up by PureGym founder Peter Roberts.
Total Gymnastics, which trades as Beth Tweddle Gymnastics, has been bought by Gymfinity Kids for an undisclosed sum. The company has sites in Widnes and Bolton, which will now be rebranded.
Gymfinity Kids is headquartered in Milton Keynes and also has sites in Bracknell, Cambridge, Chatham, Farnborough, Maidstone, Reading, Walton on Thames and Wandsworth. The business said its acquisition makes it the UK's largest children's gymnastics provider.
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Total Gymnastics is a sister company to Bury-based Total Swimming which was co-founded by former Olympic swimmers Steve Parry, Rebecca Adlington and Adrian Turner. JD Sports acquired a 60% stake in the business for £15m last year.
Beth Tweddle and her team will join Gymfinity Kids with the former gymnastics star becoming a brand ambassador for the group and director of the local community and National Curriculum programmes.
She said: "Beth Tweddle Gymnastics was founded with an ambition to inspire a generation and to create opportunities for every child to get involved in gymnastics. I'm really proud of everything we've achieved as a business and the impact we've had on tens of thousands of children that have developed a passion for gymnastics at our Centres, Academy venues and National Curriculum Schools.
"By joining Gymfinity Kids we’re embarking on a new chapter for the business. We are joining a group with the scale, resources and commitment to help us realise our ambition - it’s a really exciting prospect and I am looking forward to working with the team as we continue to expand. Active children are happier and healthier, and gymnastics is a fun and rewarding way to get active. I can’t wait to help inspire the next generation of gymnastic enthusiasts."
The deal comes after Gymfinity Kids secured a £5m cash injection last September to help its bid to more than triple in size by the end of 2025. Founder Peter Roberts is Sales surge at owners of high-end restaurants Sexy Fish and The Ivy.
Jacques De Bruin, managing director of Gymfinity Kids, added: "At Gymfinity Kids we are all passionate about getting children to lead more active lifestyles and to form healthy habits, which helps to support their mental and physical health. Over the last few years Gymfinity Kids has built great momentum, increasing our membership base and opening new clubs to make gymnastics, Ninja and dance classes accessible to even more children.
"When the opportunity to work with Beth Tweddle Gymnastics presented itself we jumped at it. Our existing members will benefit from Beth's unrivalled experience as a gymnast and a coach, we're adding two new brilliant clubs with strong memberships bases into the business and we plan to roll out the Beth Tweddle Gymnastics community and schools programmes to schools around our existing clubs, supporting even more children to learn to love being active.
"As a combined group we'll be the largest children’s gymnastics operator in the UK - this is an exciting platform to build from and to continue expanding in the years ahead. We welcome the government's renewed focus on improving children’s activity levels through its Get Active strategy and welcome opportunities to work together to provide more opportunities for children to exercise inside and outside school."
