Business funding for gyms and fitness studios

Gyms borrow for equipment, for fitting out a unit and for opening further sites, and lenders judge them on membership numbers and how long members stay. Equipment suits hire purchase or leasing, a fit-out needs a business loan, and steady direct debit income can support recurring revenue finance. Commercial gyms charge VAT at 20% on memberships, and in England they qualify for the lower retail, hospitality and leisure business rates multipliers.

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What gyms borrow for

Equipment
Treadmills, bikes, rowers, racks and dumbbells each have a serial number or a clear identity, so hire purchase and leasing can fund them, secured on the kit.
Fitting out a unit
Gyms take industrial units and former shops and spend heavily on flooring, changing rooms, showers, air handling and electrics. That work stays with the building, so it is paid from a business loan or your own money.
Refreshing the kit
Equipment you already own outright can raise cash through asset refinance, which pays for a refit or a new studio while you keep using the machines.
A new site
A second or third gym is judged on the trading of the first, and on the membership the new site can sign before and after it opens.
A baker taking a tray of fresh bread from a rack

Membership income and the January peak

A gym is paid monthly by direct debit, in advance, which gives it a steady, predictable income. Sign-ups peak in January and again in early autumn, and cancellations rise through the spring and summer. A lender will ask for monthly figures for new members, cancellations and total live members over at least a year, so it can see whether the base is growing or shrinking.

That predictability is what lenders lend against when there is little else. Recurring revenue finance advances a sum based on your monthly contracted income, repaid over an agreed term. It suits a gym with a stable or growing membership; a gym whose members leave in large numbers each summer will be offered less.

Pay-as-you-go classes and personal training are paid at the time, by card. A studio that relies on them has a less predictable income, and a lender reads its card processor statements the way it would read a restaurant’s.

Equipment on hire purchase

Illustrative example

A gym kits out a new floor. The rate and the membership price are assumptions; the finance company sets the real rate.

Equipment cost
£120,000
Term
48 months
Interest rate (assumed)
9% a year
Monthly payment
£2,986.21
Total repaid
£143,337.84
Interest over the term
£23,337.84
Membership at an assumed £30 a month including VAT, after VAT
£25.00
Members needed to cover the payment
120

Members signed on top of those 120 pay towards rent, staff and profit. The asset finance calculator works out the payment on your own quote.

VAT, rates and a lender’s concerns

Sporting services are exempt from VAT only when supplied by an eligible body, which has to be non-profit-making and outside commercial influence. A commercial gym is not an eligible body, so its memberships and classes are standard-rated at 20%. That 20% comes out of the price members pay, and a lender works from your takings after VAT.

Gyms in England with a rateable value below £500,000 are charged on the lower retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers from 1 April 2026: 38.2p in the pound below £51,000 and 43.0p from £51,000 to £499,999 for 2026 to 2027.

A lender’s first concern is members leaving, which your monthly figures show. Its second is the lease, which has to run beyond the loan on a unit you have spent heavily to fit out. Its third is a low-cost chain opening nearby, and it will ask how your plan deals with one. A clear record of member numbers through the year and a lease with no early break answer most of its questions.

Funding that fits a gym

Asset finance

Hire purchase or leasing pays for equipment, secured on the kit, with repayments set against the monthly membership income. Asset finance.

Recurring revenue finance

An advance against contracted direct debit income suits a gym with a stable membership and few other assets.

Business loan

A loan pays for a fit-out or a new site, and where security is short the Growth Guarantee Scheme can back part of it.

Documents to have ready

Your own position as the owner

An owner-run gym or studio depends on the owner’s health and time. Key person cover pays the business if you cannot work, and a relevant life policy provides death cover through the company. What a relevant life policy is.

Unsecured lending to a gym company is normally backed by a personal guarantee, and you can ask for it to be capped. What a personal guarantee means for a director. When you sell, a buyer pays for the membership base and the lease and reads the same records a lender does. Selling your business.

Asset finance calculator

The monthly payment on equipment or vehicle finance with a deposit and a balloon payment, and what the finance costs in total.

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Questions people ask

Can I finance gym equipment?

Yes. Gym equipment is funded on hire purchase, where you own it at the end, or a lease, where you pay to use it and then return, extend or buy it. The finance company holds the equipment as security. Some providers finance second-hand and refurbished equipment, and equipment you already own can raise cash through asset refinance.

How do I get a loan to open a gym?

A lender will want a business plan with a membership forecast, the lease or heads of terms on the unit, the fit-out and equipment quotes, your experience in the industry and the money you are putting in yourself. Equipment can be financed separately from the fit-out. A limited company can use a funding search through Swoop, as can a sole trader or partnership borrowing more than £25,000. Can a new business get a loan?

Do gyms charge VAT on memberships?

A commercial gym does: its memberships and classes are standard-rated at 20%. The exemption for sporting services applies only to eligible bodies, which must be non-profit-making and not under commercial influence, under HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/45. A community or members’ club that meets those conditions can exempt its sporting services.

Can I borrow against my gym’s membership income?

Yes. Recurring revenue finance advances a sum based on your monthly contracted direct debit income and is repaid over an agreed term. The amount depends on the size and stability of the membership. A lender will read monthly joins, cancellations and live members for at least a year, and your direct debit provider’s reports.

Finance is subject to status and to the lender’s terms. A personal guarantee makes you liable for the company’s debt if it does not repay, and it can be enforced against your own assets, including your home. Nothing here is a personal recommendation.

Funding by sector

Asset finance

Asset finance spreads the cost of equipment, vehicles and machinery over the years you use them, with the asset as the funder’s security.

Read more →

Recurring revenue finance

Lending against subscription or contract income, for software and subscription businesses.

Read more →

Business funding for hair and beauty salons

Salons fund fit-outs, laser equipment and second salons, and a lender checks the treatment licences before it lends.

Read more →

Asset refinance

Asset refinance raises cash against equipment, vehicles or machinery the business already owns.

Read more →
All business funding

Start a funding search

Start a funding search

Funding searches run on Swoop’s platform. Swoop Finance Limited is a credit broker and not a lender, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 936513). Buzz Accounting Ltd introduces businesses to Swoop and may receive a fee from Swoop when funding is arranged. Business funding is separate from the financial advice Equity & General Financial Services Limited gives through this website. Finance is subject to status, and a lender may ask a director for a personal guarantee.

Cover for a personal guarantee

If a lender asks you to guarantee the company’s borrowing, our advisers can advise on life cover for that debt.

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