Sector Focus
Fitness
EN gets into shape over the
growing fitness market and its
events in the UK
Words by: Saul Leese and Olivia Powell
26 — April
A
round 8.9 million people in the UK
take part in regular fitness activities
in the UK and 10m people are members
of a gym, up 4.7 per cent on 2018. Gym
facilities have grown from 7,038 to
7,239 and the total market value has
risen 4.2 per cent to £5.1bn. 37 per cent
of people in the UK don’t exercise at
all but 55 per cent adults are eating
healthier. The UK is lagging behind
the rest of Europe with Just 56.2 per
cent of UK adults exercising (At least
one day per month of vigorous exercise
lasting 20 minutes or more) compared
to 64.8% in Spain, 77.2% Germany, and
63.4% in France.
Surprisingly, there are only a handful
of large-scale B2C events in the UK.
The National Running Show is one of
the new and growing events attracting
25,000 visitors is held twice a year
at The NEC Birmingham. MD Mike
Seaman explains: “Latest figures from a
recent survey show 27.7 million people