Virgin Active — BrandWiki

Virgin Active Limited is a chain of health clubs in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

History

Virgin Active was founded in 1999.[2] Their first club opened in Preston, Lancashire that year.[3] Initially headquartered in Milton Keynes, in 2013 headquarters were moved to London, leaving a small call centre in Milton Keynes which closed in 2018.

In South Africa the company bought the assets of the 'Health and Racquet Club' chain after the latter's parent company, Leisurenet, had been placed in liquidation in October 2000[4] for 319.6 million South African Rand (approximately £24.5m as at November 2011).[5] The South African company also runs Virgin Life Care

Accidents and deaths

In March 2003, 32 year old City banker Katarzyna Woja stepped out of the lift at the Virgin Active (then Holmes Place) Broadgate Health Club in central London, when its cable snapped and the hydraulic cabin plunged downwards. Woja became trapped between the cabin's mantel and the lift shaft and was dragged downwards, suffering disastrous injuries. She died soon after. Although she was with seven other people in the lift, she was the only one injured in the accident, as she was the last one to step out of the lift. Following a lengthy investigation by health and safety experts Holmes Place (bought by Virgin Active) was charged with six breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act while the lift manufacturer ThyssenKrupp was charged with four breaches.[22]

In December 2011, Virgin's flagship club in High Street Kensington was accused of covering up the death of model and city worker Elsa Carneau, who drowned in the swimming pool at the west London club. A fire crew and paramedics tried to revive the Imperial College graduate for almost an hour before she was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Westminster coroner's court heard that staff at the club administered CPR incorrectly and falsified paperwork relating to CCTV checks to pretend that they had been monitoring the pool in a “distasteful” attempt to cover their tracks. Firemen also described how a man, who said he was a member of staff, had stood by filming efforts to resuscitate Carneau on his mobile telephone. Pierre Carneau, the victim's father criticised Virgin Active for not apologising for the accident. He stated "It was an accident waiting to happen. If things had been done properly, I think there’s a chance our daughter may still be alive.” Virgin Active admitted health and safety breaches and was fined £100,000 at Southwark Crown Court in December 2013. An investigation found “serious shortcomings in the management of risks connected with swimming activity at the club” going back to 2009.[23][24][25][26]

In April 2014, three gym goers were injured when a suspended ceiling collapsed on to a line of rowing machines at the Virgin Active on Chiswick High Road, in West London.[27]

In November 2024, a 34-year-old doctor was fatally shot in the parking lot of Virgin Active Riverside in Mbombela, South Africa, by unknown assailants. The motive and suspects were unknown at the time of reporting.[28]

Legal issues

Legal issues and controversy in Italy

Unauthorised construction

In October 2020, the Virgin Active gymnasium in Palermo, Sicily, was subject to judicial seizure for building abuse involving an increase in the useful surface area of the building and a different outline of the same, with non-payment of 60,000 Euros corresponding to urbanisation charges.[29] The Virgin Group company pleaded ignorance of the facts as it had a lease agreement with the company that owned the building, Euroleasing Company Spa;[30] Virgin Group terminated the lease in January 2022.[31]

Unfair business practices fine

On June 18, 2025, the Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGICOM) fined the company 3 million Euros for unfair business practices in Italy regarding the terms of subscriptions, cancellation and early termination of the contracts.[32] The authority indicated that the company had failed to provide information on the price increases practiced in the year 2024 and that it had complicated the contract termination methodology between the company and the customer.[33]

type	Joint venture
industry	Health club, gym
foundation	1998, in Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom
founder	Richard Branson, Matthew Bucknall
location city	London
location country	England
locations	226 32 (UK) 136 (South Africa)‡R1R‡ 33 (Italy) 11 (Australia) 6 (Singapore) 8 (Thailand) 2 (Namibia) 1 (Botswana)
area served	South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Italy, Australia, UK, Singapore, Thailand
key people	Sir Richard Branson Matthew Bucknall (CEO of Virgin Active Group)
owner	Christo Wiese (80%) Virgin Group (20%)
homepage	http://www.virginactive.com

History

Accidents and deaths

Legal issues

Legal issues and controversy in Italy

Unauthorised construction

Unfair business practices fine

Unauthorised construction

Unfair business practices fine

References