Update to Sussex gym that was closed due to aerated concrete

Hove Fitness has provided an update on social media to update their customers about the club's situation. In 2020, Hove Fitness launched, promising to be a community-led, friendly place for people to exercise, play squash and drink.

However, on Tuesday, October 10, the gym was unexpectedly forced to close in the middle of the day, as parts of the building contained RAAC after a recent building inspection. The building they rented is owned by Entain, who generated revenue of £4.2bn in 2022, according to reports.

Lucy Egan, one of the three directors of Hove Fitness said: “We've had loads of emails from people saying how devastated they are for us, it’s a massive loss of community." The directors are now looking for financial support from Entain, to get their gym up and running again.

It’s not just the gym goers that are upset either. There was also multiple squash courts located at the gym. Ben Hutton, the head coach for squash at Hove Fitness and joint-director said: “I speak for every single solitary squash member, which I know we were a small part, but there was a massive squash community based at that club.

“We’ve national and international champions coming out the club, every single player is gutted.”

On the club’s Instagram page, one post said: “We're not giving up and we are still exploring ways to reopen the club. It's not something that will happen overnight so we appreciate your patience but we are still fighting.

“We are pursuing a variety of options and we'll ask for your support in different ways so watch this space for updates. We're also exploring other possibilities, so if you know of any commercial space locally that we could rent, please reach out to any of us.

“One thing we can tell you is we are not quitting we have spent too much time building Hove Fitness to where it is currently and also the support we have has given us huge motivation to keep going in whichever way it goes for us.”