A WOKINGHAM town centre gym will be rebranded after its group was taken over by a rival company.
Virgin Active, in The Plaza off Denmark Street, has been acquired by Nuffield Health along with 34 other health and fitness sites around the country.
According to a statement released by Nuffield Health, which already operates 77 gyms, 31 hospitals and more than 200 corporate fitness and wellbeing centres around the country, the transaction has been approved by both parties and is expected to be completed later this year.
Steve Gray, Chief Executive Officer for Nuffield Health said: “This acquisition is a great move forward and allows us to increase the pace of delivery of our strategy and our charitable purpose, to help people achieve, maintain and recover to the level of health and wellbeing they aspire to.
“This acquisition will increase our reach in key sought-after locations and allow both members and non-members access to broader health and wellbeing services as well as proximity to Nuffield Health hospitals.
“I’m delighted to welcome new members and teams to the Nuffield Health family and firmly believe that they will benefit from our broader health and wellbeing model.”
Paul Woolf, Chief Executive of Virgin Active Group, commented: “This is a positive deal with a compelling rationale for both ourselves and Nuffield Health. We believe that the success of these clubs will continue under Nuffield Health and are pleased that the members and club teams will be transferred, which was a very important consideration for us.”
All Virgin Active employees will transfer over to Nuffield Health as part of the acquisition, but an exact date of when the Wokingham site will be taken over is yet to be announced.
Once transferred, members will no longer be able to access other Virgin Active Clubs, but they will be able to use additional Nuffield Health clubs which fall within the same tier. Membership prices are expected to remain at the current Virgin Active rate.
For more information on the acquisition visit www.nuffieldhealth.com.
