September 28th, 2009
Gym chain giant founder to concentrate on holiday villa business
Mike Balfour, the founder of world’s largest gym chain Fitness First, has reportedly left the company and will now concentrate on his holiday villa business.
According to reports, the reason why Balfour left the company was due to a continuing disagreement between him and BC Partners. His company was bought for £ 800million. There have been rumors that he was not happy with how the buyout proceeded which caused the disagreement with the shareholders.
The 60-year old entrepreneur is now concentrating on Hideaways, his holiday villa company.
Fitness First was founded in 1992 by Balfour and business partner Christopher Pearce. What started as a gym in Bournemouth became a global franchise with customers preferring affordable fitness club establishments over exclusive and more expensive clubs.
Balfour has yet to release an official statement on the matter as he’s currently on a private holiday.
