Virgin Active to start move into Asia with Singapore opening

Virgin Active sees a huge opportunity to enter the market to improve the quality of life of Singaporeans. The first club, at Raffles Place, will be joined by at least five others in Singapore over the next few years, according to the company.

The club, however, said it was unable to reveal more information on its expansion plans in Singapore. It is working with Saatchi & Saatchi and iNEO for its creative and digital works, respectively.

Waggener Edstrom, meanwhile, is its PR agency.

Virgin Active already has a presence in the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, South Africa and Australia. Since its inception in 1999, it now has more than 260 clubs, with more than 1.3 million members and annual revenues in excess of US$1 billion.

“Most Singaporeans already know the Virgin brand, and I have no doubt they will love getting fit the Virgin way,” said Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group.

Mark Blackman, managing director at Virgin Active Asia-Pacific, noted that the philosophy of Virgin Active is to “enrich people’s lives by helping them get fit and stay healthy without too much hassle”.

He said the club would offer a holistic approach to fitness and wellbeing with innovative technology and activities that bring a sense of achievement and revitalisation to its members.

Virgin Active is also in the midst of already investigating other potential locations in Southeast Asia.

“Other than Singapore, we are looking at a number of other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia,” Blackman added.