Virgin Active limbers up with laundry acquisition
Fitness group Virgin Active has saved a towel and laundry supplier from collapse, safeguarding 30 jobs.
The gym operator has bought H20 Leisure Services, which went into administration last month.
H20, based in Neasden, north London, supplies Virgin’s 50 clubs in the capital, which use more than 1m towels a month.
Virgin said it decided to buy the business after receiving comments from customers that the towel service needed to be upgraded.
Virgin Active UK chief operating officer Scott Hood said: “We did not expect to be running a laundry business at this point, but this move shows our commitment to going the extra mile to ensure we give members what they need – in this case a continual supply of towels.
“We’re pleased to have safeguarded over 30 jobs in a business that was suffering in these tough times.”
Virgin Active runs 71 health clubs across the UK, including the flagship City sites at Bank and Barbican. In the last financial year the company’s earnings rose 18 per cent to £101.1m, on a 15 per cent rise in revenues to £391m. Member numbers rose 4 per cent to 919,000.