By David Saunders, Health Editor
The club will be known as David Lloyd Club Talwalkars, and is part of a joint venture with India’s leading health and fitness group Talwalkars Better Value Fitness, fusing over 100 years’ experience between the two market-leading brands.
David Lloyd Leisure’s expertise in premium family focused clubs and Talwalkars vast knowledge of the local health and fitness market will provide a new premium family experience to the health, fitness and leisure market in India.
Including the new club in India, DLL operates 115 clubs, of which 99 are in the UK, comprising 96 David Lloyd Clubs, and three Harbour Clubs in premium West London locations. It is currently constructing what will become its 100th UK club at Emersons Green, Bristol which is due to open at the end of this year. The company’s fastest area of development however is mainland Europe and DLL already has 15 clubs across Holland, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Italy, France and Germany, in addition to its clubs in the UK. DLL continues to look for expansion opportunities across Europe, including acquisitions as well as new build sites.
In 2018 alone DLL acquired City Green Sporting Club (now David Lloyd Geneva); Health City Bad Homburg (now David Lloyd Bad Homburg) which is currently undergoing a €10m refurbishment; and reopened David Lloyd Acton Park (formerly The Park Club) in West London following a £9 million complete transformation to the existing facilities. This is in addition to a continuing upgrade and investment programme across the estate.
This followed a significant move forward in 2017 when DLL not only acquired 16 clubs including 14 UK clubs from Virgin Active, but also opened the third of its premium brand, Harbour Clubs, in Kensington, London.
Pune was chosen as the location for the first club in India because of its rapid economic growth in recent years. Located within a three hour drive of Mumbai, it has a rapidly growing population of over nine million with a large IT sector, universities and a large demographic which is similar to other large cities where David Lloyd Leisure has successful clubs.
As with all David Lloyd Clubs, it will offer international standards of facilities, tailored to the individual needs of the local culture. To cater for the high demand for eating out, fine dining, banquets and conferences, the club will offer three restaurants; a poolside café, a Clubroom restaurant, and the stunning rooftop Global Bar and Restaurant, led by award-winning celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
In addition, the club will feature a premium range of family-friendly fitness facilities, including a heated outdoor swimming pool, tennis, squash and badminton courts, multi-purpose sports hall, a fully equipped gym and three group exercise studios which will host classes such as indoor cycling, Zumba and a variety of yoga.
Glenn Earlam, CEO David Lloyd Leisure commented: “The opening of our first club outside of Europe is a significant milestone for the business, and we hope it will be the first of many more. Talwalkars’ local experience and cultural knowledge combined with our expertise in operating premium family health clubs has proved to be a powerful partnership, allowing us to move into this completely untapped market with confidence.
“As part of our goal to operate 150 clubs by the end of 2026, we continue to look for growth opportunities, whether through acquisition or new build, throughout Europe and beyond.”
Shiv Patel, Chief Commercial Officer of the joint venture, commented: “As a business we set out to embrace the local culture whilst staying true to our David Lloyd Leisure identity. Achieving this has enabled us to deliver a world class club whilst creating a variety of employment opportunities for the local community and investing in developing the skills for our new team.”
For further information about David Lloyd Leisure please visit davidlloyd.co.uk.