It’s been a busy year so far for David Lloyd Leisure (DLL). In the past six months, the group has agreed and completed a deal to take over 14 Virgin Active clubs in the UK and entered the Italian market with the acquisition of the Malaspina Club in Milan.
DLL has also been tightening its grip on the UK’s luxury health club sector after making a number of high-end acquisitions. In June, it took control of The Park Club – one of London’s most exclusive health clubs – and also exchanged contracts to buy The Academy in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
As part of its strategy to corner the UK’s high-end fitness market, the company also spent £5.5m converting an existing DLL Club in central London into a Harbour Club – its “premium brand within a premium brand”.
NEW BEGINNINGS The new Harbour Club – the third in the company’s portfolio – opened on 1 June and is housed at the Point West mixed-use tower in South Kensington.
While there has been a DLL club at the site since 1997, the launch has been treated as a whole new opening, rather than a revamp. General manager Robert Sambles says of the opening: “I’d definitely describe it as a brand new club. Some of the layout is the same as it was for the old DLL club, but the interior is unrecognisable.”
The six-month redevelopment has changed an ageing club into a spacious, luxurious facility with crisp design. There is an affluent feel to the interior, with many of the finishes more akin to a spa than a gym. The club’s food and drink offer exemplifies the revolution – where there once was just a coffee machine and water tower, now lies a restaurant and bar with full table service.
Sambles is well placed to judge the extent of the transformation. He joined the former DLL club as general manager a year before work began to remodel the property.
“It really needed attention,” he says. “The club had been here for nearly 20 years and a refurbishment was due.”
According to Sambles, when the plans for a revamp were first tabled, it quickly became clear that the club would have to shut for the whole duration of the works. This led to a rethink about whether a straightforward revamp was the best option – and ultimately the decision to turn the site into a Harbour Club, rather than reopening as a David Lloyd Leisure club.
Sambles says the decision was based on a number of important considerations. “Perhaps the biggest factor was that we already had Harbour Clubs in Chelsea and Notting Hill,” he says. “Having a third one here in South Kensington really strengthens our brand presence in south west London, where the Harbour Club brand is already very well established and well-loved.
“We also already have a David Lloyd Leisure club quite close to here, over in Fulham, which has a very similar offering to us – a large gym, swimming pool and dedicated group exercise spaces.
“So we really wanted a differentiator, and turning the South Kensington site into a Harbour Club provides us with the perfect one,” he adds.
HIGH FIVE The New Harbour Club is spread over five floors – four of which are customer-facing – and has a total floor space of 62,592sq ft (5,815sq m). Three of the floors are below ground, with the bottom floor occupied by a 20m, four-lane swimming pool and a large wellness area with two saunas, a steamroom and spa pool.
The pool – surprisingly large for a private health club in a central London location – has proven to be an effective marketing tool, attracting members looking for regular swimming opportunities.
“We always keep two lanes open for swimmers, even when we have classes on,” Sambles says. “So we might have aqua aerobics or kids’ lessons going on, but there will still be space for lane swimmers to come in.”
Located on the level above the pool is what Sambles describes as a “holistic destination”. “It’s where all our mind and body classes take place,” he says. “We have studio spaces dedicated to activities such as yoga, pilates and Body Balance.”
NEW CONCEPTS In total, the health club has seven group exercise areas – five of which are traditional, “closed” studio spaces.
Situated on the level above the holistic studio is the main gym area, fitted with 80 CV and 40 resistance stations from Life Fitness and Stages. There’s also a Hammer Strength free weights area. Laid out in a circular space, the gym offers a modern, high-end feel, in keeping with the rest of the club’s interiors.
The fourth level is dedicated to group exercise and, according to Sambles, is the club’s “most exciting” area. “This is where we have two brand new group training products, PRAMA and Blaze,” he says. “PRAMA is a concept developed in Spain and we are only the second club in the UK to have it.”
Blaze is DLL’s new high-intensity interval training (HIIT) concept, created by the group’s head of fitness, Michelle Dand. Housed in its own studio space – adjacent to the PRAMA area and carpeted using 3G artificial turf – Blaze offers an intensive workout in an ultra-modern setting.
“Blaze is making its world debut here,” Sambles reveals. “We’re really excited about the product and so far it’s taken off really well. It’s something we will be rolling out to other clubs at some point in the future.”
Dand, the concept’s creator, adds: “Blaze provides members with an authentic boutique experience that’s more than a match for anything else available in London. Our members can get their fill of HIIT group training at the club without having to go elsewhere. This means that they get to work out in a way that’s incredibly popular, and still enjoy all the luxurious facilities we offer.
The fourth floor is also home to a Synrgy360 functional training system, a sports performance area kitted out with Wattbikes and a large indoor cycling studio with a capacity for 30 people. As well as instructor-led sessions, the indoor bike studio runs a programme of virtual classes which are supplied by Les Mills.
“The beauty of the virtual classes is that they will always go ahead and it doesn’t matter whether there is one or 30 people taking part – they won’t cost any extra,” Sambles says.
The group exercise spaces are in heavy use. In total, there are more than 200 classes every week, ranging from reformer pilates, yoga and barre to Body Combat and other Les Mills classes. There’s also a studio space for children, catering for families – a big growth area for the club.
BOUTIQUE EXPERIENCE As the group exercise areas act and work as their own spaces, the fourth floor – while connected to the rest of the club – feels as though it accommodates four separate boutique studios.
This is entirely intentional according to Sambles, and a crucial one of the club’s USPs. The inclusion of so many group spaces is also a response to the surge in popularity of non-traditional gyms and small, boutique facilities which concentrate on a single activity – some of which can be found on the Harbour Club’s doorstep.
“There are quite a few smaller boutique studios around us,” Sambles says. “There’s a Barry’s Bootcamp fairly close and also a Core Collective and a 1Rebel club. We also have an exclusive cycling studio operator due open in the area.
“Boutique studios are increasingly popular and people look for that intimate experience – where they can go and get a good workout in a smaller, non-traditional gym setting.
“Each boutique studio has one thing it does really well – be it HIIT, yoga, combat sports, cycling or some other form of training. Our plan has been to take a boutique cycle experience, a boutique HIIT experience, boutique circuit training and put it all in one product – while also offering a range of other services, such as the pool and the restaurant.”
The health club currently has around 2,200 members – with a healthy mixture of both new members and members of the old David Lloyd Leisure. “We closed the club in December 2016 with 2,000 members and the target was to open with about the same number and we’ve been successful on that front,” Sambles says.
About the Harbour Club brand • Harbour Club is David Lloyd Leisure’s premium brand. It was bought into the portfolio by Next Generation – which acquired DLL from Whitbread in 2007 in a deal that consolidated the three gym brands into one business.
• Next Gen acquired the original Harbour Club in Chelsea – famous for having Princess Diana among its members – from rival operator Cannons in January 2005.
• Six months later, in June 2005, Next Gen opened the second Harbour club in Notting Hill, after converting existing tennis club, The Carlton Club. It took another 12 years for DLL to open the third Harbour Club.
Harbour Club brand
The Harbour Club in Kensington is home to two entirely new group exercise products PRAMA Developed by a Spanish entrepreneur, PRAMA is an interactive fitness platform using Pavigym technology. The technology allows personal and group training and can also be used by classes involving children. The Harbour Club is the second site in the UK – and the only one in London – to offer the classes.
First unveiled at IHRSA 2016, the functional circuit training area uses interactive flooring, integrated LED lights and sensors, and mood lighting. The intelligent flooring units are used to create multiple training stations, which are controlled by touchscreens, allowing trainers to design and track the workouts.
Offering a full-body workout, the stations can be programmed to feature everything from basic lunges, medicine ball slams and squat jumps to body-weight training and resistance band work.
The PRAMA platform is being used to target the family market
The Harbour Club in Kensington is home to two entirely new group exercise products BLAZE Offering HIIT for groups, Blaze was created in-house by DLL’s head of fitness, Michelle Dand. The aim has been to offer a boutique experience, bringing intense CV training together with strength, boxing and martial arts.
Training takes place across three main stations – running machines for CV, weight benches for resistance and a set of grip pads, core bags and punch bags for combat exercises. An element of competition – and social interaction – can also be added, as all activities are monitored using the Myzone system.
“It’s already been a huge success,” says Sambles. “It’s our most attended class here and the feedback has been brilliant.
Blaze combat training
Blaze CV on the treadmills
Blaze resistance training
The new Harbour Club offers a series of boutique training spaces on different levels for its members
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Serco Leisure
Serco Leisure Operating Limited is one of the UK’s leading national operators of leisure centres, de [more...]
It’s been a busy year so far for David Lloyd Leisure (DLL). In the past six months, the group has agreed and completed a deal to take over 14 Virgin Active clubs in the UK and entered the Italian market with the acquisition of the Malaspina Club in Milan.
DLL has also been tightening its grip on the UK’s luxury health club sector after making a number of high-end acquisitions. In June, it took control of The Park Club – one of London’s most exclusive health clubs – and also exchanged contracts to buy The Academy in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
As part of its strategy to corner the UK’s high-end fitness market, the company also spent £5.5m converting an existing DLL Club in central London into a Harbour Club – its “premium brand within a premium brand”.
NEW BEGINNINGS The new Harbour Club – the third in the company’s portfolio – opened on 1 June and is housed at the Point West mixed-use tower in South Kensington.
While there has been a DLL club at the site since 1997, the launch has been treated as a whole new opening, rather than a revamp. General manager Robert Sambles says of the opening: “I’d definitely describe it as a brand new club. Some of the layout is the same as it was for the old DLL club, but the interior is unrecognisable.”
The six-month redevelopment has changed an ageing club into a spacious, luxurious facility with crisp design. There is an affluent feel to the interior, with many of the finishes more akin to a spa than a gym. The club’s food and drink offer exemplifies the revolution – where there once was just a coffee machine and water tower, now lies a restaurant and bar with full table service.
Sambles is well placed to judge the extent of the transformation. He joined the former DLL club as general manager a year before work began to remodel the property.
“It really needed attention,” he says. “The club had been here for nearly 20 years and a refurbishment was due.”
According to Sambles, when the plans for a revamp were first tabled, it quickly became clear that the club would have to shut for the whole duration of the works. This led to a rethink about whether a straightforward revamp was the best option – and ultimately the decision to turn the site into a Harbour Club, rather than reopening as a David Lloyd Leisure club.
Sambles says the decision was based on a number of important considerations. “Perhaps the biggest factor was that we already had Harbour Clubs in Chelsea and Notting Hill,” he says. “Having a third one here in South Kensington really strengthens our brand presence in south west London, where the Harbour Club brand is already very well established and well-loved.
“We also already have a David Lloyd Leisure club quite close to here, over in Fulham, which has a very similar offering to us – a large gym, swimming pool and dedicated group exercise spaces.
“So we really wanted a differentiator, and turning the South Kensington site into a Harbour Club provides us with the perfect one,” he adds.
HIGH FIVE The New Harbour Club is spread over five floors – four of which are customer-facing – and has a total floor space of 62,592sq ft (5,815sq m). Three of the floors are below ground, with the bottom floor occupied by a 20m, four-lane swimming pool and a large wellness area with two saunas, a steamroom and spa pool.
The pool – surprisingly large for a private health club in a central London location – has proven to be an effective marketing tool, attracting members looking for regular swimming opportunities.
“We always keep two lanes open for swimmers, even when we have classes on,” Sambles says. “So we might have aqua aerobics or kids’ lessons going on, but there will still be space for lane swimmers to come in.”
Located on the level above the pool is what Sambles describes as a “holistic destination”. “It’s where all our mind and body classes take place,” he says. “We have studio spaces dedicated to activities such as yoga, pilates and Body Balance.”
NEW CONCEPTS In total, the health club has seven group exercise areas – five of which are traditional, “closed” studio spaces.
Situated on the level above the holistic studio is the main gym area, fitted with 80 CV and 40 resistance stations from Life Fitness and Stages. There’s also a Hammer Strength free weights area. Laid out in a circular space, the gym offers a modern, high-end feel, in keeping with the rest of the club’s interiors.
The fourth level is dedicated to group exercise and, according to Sambles, is the club’s “most exciting” area. “This is where we have two brand new group training products, PRAMA and Blaze,” he says. “PRAMA is a concept developed in Spain and we are only the second club in the UK to have it.”
Blaze is DLL’s new high-intensity interval training (HIIT) concept, created by the group’s head of fitness, Michelle Dand. Housed in its own studio space – adjacent to the PRAMA area and carpeted using 3G artificial turf – Blaze offers an intensive workout in an ultra-modern setting.
“Blaze is making its world debut here,” Sambles reveals. “We’re really excited about the product and so far it’s taken off really well. It’s something we will be rolling out to other clubs at some point in the future.”
Dand, the concept’s creator, adds: “Blaze provides members with an authentic boutique experience that’s more than a match for anything else available in London. Our members can get their fill of HIIT group training at the club without having to go elsewhere. This means that they get to work out in a way that’s incredibly popular, and still enjoy all the luxurious facilities we offer.
The fourth floor is also home to a Synrgy360 functional training system, a sports performance area kitted out with Wattbikes and a large indoor cycling studio with a capacity for 30 people. As well as instructor-led sessions, the indoor bike studio runs a programme of virtual classes which are supplied by Les Mills.
“The beauty of the virtual classes is that they will always go ahead and it doesn’t matter whether there is one or 30 people taking part – they won’t cost any extra,” Sambles says.
The group exercise spaces are in heavy use. In total, there are more than 200 classes every week, ranging from reformer pilates, yoga and barre to Body Combat and other Les Mills classes. There’s also a studio space for children, catering for families – a big growth area for the club.
BOUTIQUE EXPERIENCE As the group exercise areas act and work as their own spaces, the fourth floor – while connected to the rest of the club – feels as though it accommodates four separate boutique studios.
This is entirely intentional according to Sambles, and a crucial one of the club’s USPs. The inclusion of so many group spaces is also a response to the surge in popularity of non-traditional gyms and small, boutique facilities which concentrate on a single activity – some of which can be found on the Harbour Club’s doorstep.
“There are quite a few smaller boutique studios around us,” Sambles says. “There’s a Barry’s Bootcamp fairly close and also a Core Collective and a 1Rebel club. We also have an exclusive cycling studio operator due open in the area.
“Boutique studios are increasingly popular and people look for that intimate experience – where they can go and get a good workout in a smaller, non-traditional gym setting.
“Each boutique studio has one thing it does really well – be it HIIT, yoga, combat sports, cycling or some other form of training. Our plan has been to take a boutique cycle experience, a boutique HIIT experience, boutique circuit training and put it all in one product – while also offering a range of other services, such as the pool and the restaurant.”
The health club currently has around 2,200 members – with a healthy mixture of both new members and members of the old David Lloyd Leisure. “We closed the club in December 2016 with 2,000 members and the target was to open with about the same number and we’ve been successful on that front,” Sambles says.
About the Harbour Club brand • Harbour Club is David Lloyd Leisure’s premium brand. It was bought into the portfolio by Next Generation – which acquired DLL from Whitbread in 2007 in a deal that consolidated the three gym brands into one business.
• Next Gen acquired the original Harbour Club in Chelsea – famous for having Princess Diana among its members – from rival operator Cannons in January 2005.
• Six months later, in June 2005, Next Gen opened the second Harbour club in Notting Hill, after converting existing tennis club, The Carlton Club. It took another 12 years for DLL to open the third Harbour Club.
Harbour Club brand
The Harbour Club in Kensington is home to two entirely new group exercise products PRAMA Developed by a Spanish entrepreneur, PRAMA is an interactive fitness platform using Pavigym technology. The technology allows personal and group training and can also be used by classes involving children. The Harbour Club is the second site in the UK – and the only one in London – to offer the classes.
First unveiled at IHRSA 2016, the functional circuit training area uses interactive flooring, integrated LED lights and sensors, and mood lighting. The intelligent flooring units are used to create multiple training stations, which are controlled by touchscreens, allowing trainers to design and track the workouts.
Offering a full-body workout, the stations can be programmed to feature everything from basic lunges, medicine ball slams and squat jumps to body-weight training and resistance band work.
The PRAMA platform is being used to target the family market
The Harbour Club in Kensington is home to two entirely new group exercise products BLAZE Offering HIIT for groups, Blaze was created in-house by DLL’s head of fitness, Michelle Dand. The aim has been to offer a boutique experience, bringing intense CV training together with strength, boxing and martial arts.
Training takes place across three main stations – running machines for CV, weight benches for resistance and a set of grip pads, core bags and punch bags for combat exercises. An element of competition – and social interaction – can also be added, as all activities are monitored using the Myzone system.
“It’s already been a huge success,” says Sambles. “It’s our most attended class here and the feedback has been brilliant.
Blaze combat training
Blaze CV on the treadmills
Blaze resistance training
The new Harbour Club offers a series of boutique training spaces on different levels for its members
According to research which tracked more than 147,000 people for 30 years, 90-120 minutes
of strength training a week may deliver some of the biggest long-term health rewards.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Serco Leisure Serco Leisure Operating Limited is one of the UK’s leading national operators of leisure centres, de [more...]
