Gyms may be opening across the country on a weekly basis but Ireland is still lagging behind the worldwide fitness boom, according to Jackie Skelly Fitness which announced a €3 million expansion plan today.
According to Mr Mark Tooke, co-founder of Jackie Skelly Fitness, the Irish fitness and leisure market is at a relatively early stage of development in comparison with other countries.
It is believed that less than 3.5 per cent of the adult population in Dublin are members of leisure clubs compared with 12 per cent in the US and 7 per cent in Britain.
Jackie Skelly Fitness will open its third facility in Swords in June and a fourth in Ashbourne, Co Meath in August this year. The company plans to open four more centres in the Leinster area by 2006.
The company's leisure centre at Park West which opened in June 2002 has already secured a membership of over 3,500. The original Clarendon Street fitness centre is undergoing a major redevelopment and expansion plans are at an advanced stage, the company said.
The funding for the expansion is led by ICC Venture Capital and the Guinness Ireland Ulster Bank Equity Fund, which is managed by NCB Ventures.