Virgin Active to start Asian expansion with Singapore openings

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group plans to launch the Virgin Active Health Club brand in Asia, is set to commence with its first club at Raffles Place in Singapore.

The company owned by private equity firm CVC and Branson's Virgin Group is set to further expand its clubs in Australia in tandem with openings in Singapore and other countries in south-east Asia.

Explaining the move, Virgin Active Asia-Pacific Managing Director Mark Blackman stated "Virgin Active sees a huge opportunity to enter the market to improve the quality of life of Singaporeans.

"The first club, at Raffles Place, will be joined by at least five others in Singapore over the next few years."

In respect of operations in other countries, Blackmand added "other than Singapore, we are looking at a number of other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia."

Virgin Active has focused on its southern European business in Italy, Spain and Portugal in recent years , however, Group Chief Executive Matthew Bucknall recently told UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph that the eurozone crisis had led to a rethink in strategy.

Bucknall explained "we performed pretty well in continental Europe in 2010 and the first half of 2011 but things have tailed off since then."

Bucknall added "we are now fully funded out to 2018 which gives us the capital needed for the Asia roll-out. We have spent the last 18 months fact-finding and have got 12 locations we're looking at."

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