The F45 Training franchise has been dealt another blow as two more gyms have collapsed while currently around 50 gyms across the country are up for sale.
News.com.au has also obtained records of a F45 gym operating out of Sydney looking to sell up that shows it made just $6000 in net profit last year as Covid woes continue to hit the fitness industry.
On Monday, two separate Victorian F45 gyms were court-ordered to go into liquidation, after failing to pay back debts to a small business loan service, and with the landlord repossessing one of the properties.
Earlier this week, the South Yarra and Port Melbourne F45 branches were ordered to shut down.
Ozem Kassem of insolvency firm Cor Cordis was appointed as the liquidator for both. News.com.au has contacted Mr Kassem for comment.
That brings the total number of collapsed gyms in the last six months to 12, spanning across most of Australia.
The highest individual liabilities of one of these gyms was just under $600,000 and F45-branded equipment is up for sale at incredibly cheap prices as creditors try to recover their losses.
F45, well-known for its high intensity interval training (HIIT) classes, has nearly 500 studios across Australia.
However, 10 per cent of those gyms are at this very minute trying to sell their businesses.
News.com.au counted 48 F45 gyms listed on sales website anybusiness.com where the owners are looking to sell their franchise on to somebody else.
The lowest priced franchise was selling for $59,000 while the highest two gyms were going for $2.1 million for both.
Some gyms did not have a listing price, but said they were open to expressions of interest.
That means one out of f45 10 gyms in the country are in the process of being sold.
A Herald Sun investigation put the figure even higher, at 95 gyms being currently up for sale.
A gym in Sydney, which news.com.au has chosen not to name, was trying to sell for $100,000.
In documents leaked to news.com.au, the owner wrote they were trying to sell because they had a young family and a demanding daytime job. But the numbers tell a different story.
The gym generated a revenue of $181,000 in the last financial year ending June 30 but only made a net profit of $6000.
Direct costs sucked up a large portion of revenue, with it paying out $126,000 in staff wages and taxes and other fees, and also indirect costs, such as $34,000 a year in rent.
Also, the gym then had to pay three per cent of its gross profit to F45 head office as a franchising fee.
In the end, the gym owner was able to walk away with just $6000 for the year’s worth of hard work.
The 12 months prior, in the 2020-2021 financial year, the total profit was considerably higher, at $23,000.
The owner of the Sydney gym declined to comment while a spokesperson from F45 head office said more than 80,000 Australians had joined the brand as members.
“We are one of the largest fitness operators in the country and maintain a supportive and competitive franchise model,” they said.
“We’re proud to be in business alongside our franchisees, and we recognise their success goes hand-in-hand with our own.
“Consistent with this, and in response to pandemic-related challenges, we implemented relief initiatives, including waiving franchise fees, standing up an online platform so studios could operate virtually, and implementing payment plans as studios were able to reopen.”
Last month, F45 secured a $90 million line of funding to begin its next growth stage.
Like many industries, the fitness sector has endured a massive shake-up following the Covid-19 pandemic and Barrie Elvish, CEO of AUSactive, Australia’s fitness industry association, said F45 remained a “successful business model”.
“The fact is that many fitness brands with gyms in CBDs in the East Coast – particularly Sydney and Melbourne – have had to evolve their studio footprints to address shifting market dynamics and changes in consumer behaviour post-Covid,” Mr Elvish said.
“Factors include rises in suburban memberships due to more gym-goers working from home, more than half of the trainer workforce exiting the industry, and inconsistent practices by landlords on rent abatement in response to pandemic-required closures.”
He called on more to be done at a government level to help the floundering industry, including introducing vouchers, similar to the dining, activity-related and travel vouchers offered in NSW and Victoria after lockdowns ended.
Since June last year, 12 F45 gyms have toppled, leaving several customers angry as they have been left out of pocket.
A F45 studio at Perth airport shut down in June, as well as one in Mount Barker in South Australia and Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast.
Runaway Bay F45 shut down at the end of January with no explanation to customers, leaving one customer, Jamie*, several days’ worth of gyms fees out of pocket.
“Don’t you love a business where you train for over four years and nearly 1000 classes and you turn up early for a normal Saturday class to wait out the front with other dedicated paying members and they have closed the doors for good,” the 46-year-old dad previously told news.com.au.
Four gyms have shut down in Brisbane, two in the suburb of Newstead, one in Stafford and one in West End. Each gym owes around $100,000 to creditors.
Then there was the F45 franchise in Yeppoon, in coastal Queensland, which owed an eye-watering $600,000 to creditors when it went bust.
Gisborne’s F45 studio in regional Victoria has also closed its doors for good although is yet to appoint liquidators.
News.com.au understands there was at least $125,000 owed to the landlord when the gym was seized, with eviction notices plastered over its doors.
F45 Werribee and Hoppers Crossing also shuttered their doors in August though have not entered into an official liquidation.
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Their closure left a customer $1000 out of pocket, after she paid for six months of gym fees upfront as part of a promotion. They have since paid her back, although it took two months to do so as they had to sell off their gym equipment.
The F45 studios in Port Melbourne and South Yarra are the latest to join the growing list.
One Port Melbourne customer who preferred to remain anonymous was left frustrated after paying $99 for a challenge, only for the gym to close down with signage indicating it owed $163,000 in unpaid rent and utilities to the landlord.
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