NRG Gyms gets ready for expansion after securing £4m investment

Puma Growth Partners has invested £4 million into NRG Gyms, the low-cost gym group founded by Shafiq Ahmed.

NRG will use the funding to expand its portfolio of gyms across the UK and to invest in the use of data and analytics to improve the member experience. It also has plans to create a technology-led back-office infrastructure capable of allowing the business to scale at speed.

NRG currently operates at seven locations in London, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle and Walsall. There are plans to open sites in Glasgow and Lakeside.

Shafiq Ahmed, Founder and CEO of NRG Gyms, commented: “Puma choosing to continue to support the growth of NRG with further investment into the business is a testament to our ongoing success.

“The funding will allow us to continue to grow our member communities, develop our pipeline of new sites all while continually investing in the team, people development and infrastructure required to grow further.”

To accompany the fresh funding and to help its expansion plans, NRG has strengthened its management team with the appointment of Neil Greenhalgh to its board as Non-Executive Director. A qualified Chartered Accountant, Greenhalgh spent nearly 20 years at JD Sports, including five years as Chief Financial Officer.

At JD Sports, he devised and executed a strategy which saw the business grow from a small cap-listed business with 330 sites across two countries, to a FTSE 100-listed global retailer.

He also played a central role in JD Sports opening its own gyms, as part of which he led the Xercise4Less gym chain acquisition process in 2020.

Henri Songeur, Investment Manager at Puma Growth Partners, added: “Our support for NRG will help the business grow its portfolio of gyms and continue to build on Shafiq’s passion for his business, members and his colleagues.”