Sports Direct Fitness gym in Bury St Edmunds to shut permanently today with customers left ‘gobsmacked and in tears’

Customers at a Bury St Edmunds gym have been left ‘gobsmacked’ after being told it will shut today.

Sports Direct Fitness – Bury St Edmunds has informed gym-goers it will close permanently today and will not re-open.

The move comes months after plans to change the gym, in Easlea Road on the Moreton Hall estate, to a retail facility were refused.

A barbers which moved into the Sports Direct Fitness on June 5 has also been told it will have to leave the premises by 4pm on Friday and cannot take any customers after tomorrow.

An email to customers from Sports Direct Fitness said: “We are really saddened to deliver this news, despite our attempts to keep the gym trading, sadly the costs to maintain the facilities has made it impossible for us to continue.”

Vanessa Frary, who has used the gym for more than 20 years, said they were told this afternoon.

“We’re all sitting here absolutely gobsmacked,” she said.

“A lot of us have been coming here since it was LA Fitness and we can’t believe we’re being treated this way.

“People are in tears. People’s livelihoods are here.

“It’s just not on. You can’t do this to people who’ve been supporting this gym for 20-odd years.

“We’re all standing around in disbelief.”

Brodie Nurse opened On Point Barbers at Sports Direct Fitness with Oli Norman in June.

He said they were called in by the area manager of Sports Direct to be told they had to leave the premises by 4pm on Friday.

“We’ve got three days which is just ridiculous,” he said.

“I feel devastated to be honest. We’ve put £14,000 into getting this up and running.

“We’re going to have to find somewhere temporary at the moment.”

He added that a hairdressers, a beautician, personal instructors and swimming coaches were also based at the gym.

Sue Brown, of h2go-swim, has been running swimming lessons at the gym for 18 months, teaching about 120 children including those with special needs.

She said she was devastated and shocked for their swimmers and the self employed teachers who have lost their jobs with no warning at all.

“It’s a total community lifeline,” she said. “All we can hope is someone takes it over.”

Simon Harding, of Bury St Edmunds, has had a continuous membership at the gym for 15 years.

“It just seems so brutal to me to chuck the staff on the scrap heap,” he said.

“I will really miss the friendship of all the staff. It isn’t just the physical benefit of going to the gym.

“There really isn’t any comparable gyms in Bury that can offer the facilities they do.”

In January, gym-goers and staff were celebrating after West Suffolk Council refused plans to change the use of the gym to a retail facility.

A campaign was launched to oppose the proposals.

Among those involved in the campaign was Melanie Soanes, 51, who said she received a WhatsApp message from a friend at the gym to say there was an email due at 3.30pm about the closure.

She came to the gym this afternoon to support staff, see friends and have a swim.

Melanie said: “I’m really disappointed because I supported the gym before Christmas and fought to keep it open for all the members – there’s over 3,000 members.

“As I said back in January and December 2022, the gym supports a lot of physical and mental wellbeing of all ages.”

Her son Jacob is also a member.

On the announcement, she said she felt upset, tearful and disappointed given that they fought to keep the gym in a battle lasting more than six months.

John Bowles, 68, said he was devastated and couldn’t believe it. He was walking out the door after his workout when he was told it was closing.

“I retired last year and one of the great things I thought was I’m used to coming up here four or five times a week to work out,” he said.

“That’s gone instantly. I know there’s other gyms but it’s a friendly atmosphere – it’s like a big family and that’s it, suddenly we’re all out the door. Unbelievable, I can’t believe a company would do that to people.

“This is such a special place.”

Swimming teacher Lyn Wright, based at the gym since 1999, said it was a friendship hub and meeting point for many.

She said a key issue as a result of the decision would be the emissions from cars travelling across the town to get to an alternative facility.

A lot of people on the Moreton Hall estate go to the Sports Direct Fitness as it is nearby and they can’t drive across for physio reasons, she noted.

“Most of our members use this facility to meet up as a social hub and it’s a pressure release valve for people suffering stress and anxiety and mental health issues,” she said.

“Not to mention the livelihood of the barbers, hairdressers, beauty salon and personal trainers and staff who have had the rug pulled from under their feet.”

Following the outpouring of feeling about the retail plans and the chance to voice their concerns at a council meeting, the situation this time was very different.

She added: “Here we are with nil opportunity to project our feelings about it.”

Additional reporting by Martyna Wiecha.