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09
Jul
Harrogate gym closes suddenly
A Harrogate gym hit by financial problems has closed after going into liquidation.
Sam Schofield, owner of Atlas Fitness on Claro Road, emailed members on July 1 informing them that due to “the combination of debts accrued through covid and the rising cost of running a business means that we are no longer able to keep running".
Mr Schofield initially said he intended to close at the end of the month but in another email to members yesterday (July 8) he said the gym had closed with immediate effect.
He added that there were ongoing discussions about someone else taking the gym on, but that currently things were with the liquidator.
The email said:
Since the closure was announced we have had a large number of payments being pulled for the last month which means we are no longer in a position to pay staff for this last month.
We cannot ethically continue for the final month as I had hoped to do and as such the gym is now officially closed effective immediately.
I am beyond sorry for all those that I have let down as I know this impacts more than just myself. I’m sorry to the amazing staff for the loss of work and im sorry to all of you for the loss of your training space.
One member had already reached out to the Stray Ferret, telling us he could lose almost £2,000 after paying upfront for an 18-month membership.
The earlier-than-expected closure, he said, meant more members could be left out of pocket.
Regarding selling long-term memberships when there were concerns about the gym’s financial viability Mr Schofield previously said:
At the point of selling the upfront memberships last year we had good cash flow but that has declined this year, we have also lost core marketing avenues, plus the increase in business expenses which has meant we have struggled to get new members profitably and has led to the decision to close. The upfront memberships we sold were 12 month memberships with 6 months free and sold at a heavily discounted rate. Refunds at this point are now out of my hands and with the liquidators.
Mr Schofield also said all staff would be paid for the hours they worked up to the point of the gym closure.
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