Draft:Holmes Place

Holmes Place is an internationally operating chain of fitness studios. The first Holmes Place Health Club - the full official name - opened in 1979 in the Chelsea district of London. After an expansion in the United Kingdom, clubs were opened throughout Europe. The chain's logo is uniformly set on a white background, with a yin-yang-like symbol = H (for Holmes Place). The chain is owned by the family of company founder Allan Fisher. His son Jonathan Fisher is CEO. Around 3,000 employees work for the company. The number of members is around 320,000.

History
The first Holmes Place club opened in 1979 in Chelsea in a converted plumbing shop. In 1992 the group consisted of 3 clubs in London and had approx. 8,000 members. In 1997, Holmes Place PLC went public on the London Stock Exchange. In 2003, the private equity firms Bridgepoint Capital and Permira acquired the company for around €450 million. In 2007, founder Fisher bought the company back.

The expansion to continental Europe began in 1996: the first club on the continent was opened in Oeiras, Lisbon. By 1998, Holmes Place had around 58,000 members, and by 2001 around 230,000. Originally from England, however, the company sold its then 46 studios in the United Kingdom in 2006 for £210 million to competitor Virgin Active, after which the Holmes Place brand also disappeared from the English market. The first Holmes Place in Germany opened in Berlin in 2001. For a time, it was also represented in France and the USA through branches and franchisees. The only club in the US in Chicago was sold to joint venture partner Bally Group in 2007.

Today, the main markets are Germany, Greece, Spain, Israel, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and the Czechia. In 2009, the only Hungarian Holmes Place opened so far in Budapest.

In 2005, the then 29 clubs on the Iberian Peninsula were sold to institutional investors from Spain, but they bought them back in 2012. In 2010, the chain expanded in Germany and Austria by taking over various clubs of the insolvent Elixia fitness chain, which was also positioned in the upscale price segment. At the same time, the first Holmes Place Spa opened in Switzerland. More followed in Berlin and Warsaw, often integrated or attached to 4- or 5-star hotels. The spas stand out for their large sauna landscapes and massage salons, while the classic training areas are significantly smaller than in the other Holmes Place health clubs. Membership also costs about 20% more than in the classic Holmes Place Health Clubs. There are currently six of Germany's 14 Holmes Place clubs in Berlin.

Locations
In the first quarter of 2017, Holmes Place operated 90 studios in Europe/Middle East:

Germany: 14 studios

Austria: 4 studios

Switzerland: 5 studios

Czech Republic: 2 studios

Poland: 5 studios

Hungary: 1 studio

Portugal: 19 studios

Spain: 8 studios

Greece: 3 studios

Israel: 32 studios

Motto
The motto of Holmes Place, which is internationally attached to all clubs on advertising spaces or glass fronts, is: "Enjoy the Journey". In addition to pricing, the company also wants to distinguish itself from its competitors through its self-imposed corporate philosophy, which is broken down into "Find an activity you like, at a place you like, with people you like". The core element of each club is a large range of courses with yoga, conditioning, Pilates, Zumba and spinning etc.

In Germany and Austria, the chain also has licenses for the offers from Les Mills International.