08 Nov 2017
1Rebel begins London expansion after securing £6.6m in funding
BY Rob Gibson
Boutique fitness brand 1Rebel will accelerate its London expansion plans after raising £6.6m in funding from private equity firm Codex Capital.
Speaking to Health Club Management, 1Rebel co-founder James Balfour revealed that four new clubs will open in the first quarter of 2018 – taking the total number of sites to six – with more to follow throughout the year.
“1Rebel is going from strength to strength and this funding gives us enough capital to really push the business,” said Balfour.
“We’ve worked hard over the past two years to establish the brand and now we want to leverage that by growing and taking the business pan-London, expanding into central-west.
“The great thing about our backers is they’re very strategic in terms of property and retail so it takes us to a new level. We want to focus on being the best in class in central London.”
Codex Capital Partners is a private equity boutique which secures direct investments from family offices and other wealthy people, with a number of billionaire UK families on its books.
The investment comes as 1Rebel closed deals to develop new sites at Victoria, Bayswater and South Bank Central, opposite the boutique Mondrian Hotel at Sea Containers. It is still in negotiations to secure a fourth site, yet be disclosed.
The new sites will deliver 1Rebel’s three main fitness sessions: Ride, Rumble and Reshape. Its portfolio already includes Broadgate and St Mary Axe clubs.
“The market can expect some really interesting designs from us going forward,” said Balfour. “We’ll continue to push the envelope.”
He added that the brand’s advocates, which it calls the ‘Rebel Army’, continue to grow, demonstrated by increasing engagement across the company’s social media accounts – particularly Instagram.
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