London, UK – Monday 6th October – Brawn, the strength training platform transforming accessibility and affordability in gyms, today announced a new investment round and leadership expansion, further enhancing its leading position as the gym sector’s first plug-and-play small group strength training (SGST) platform.
The announcement follows Brawn’s recent launch of a cash-positive PT retention engine for operators – a breakthrough that gives gyms a scalable, profitable way to grow personal training and member engagement. Together, these milestones underline Brawn’s ability to tackle one of the industry’s longest-standing challenges: delivering affordable, high-quality coaching at scale.
New Investor Joins
Mark Culwick, former CFO of The Binding Site Group and ex-Rothschild investment banker, has joined as co-investor alongside Paul Richardson. His appointment brings heavyweight financial and governance expertise to the business as it scales across more than 700 UK gym sites.
Strengthen leadership and Equal Ownership
To support the next phase of growth Paul Richardson has been formally recognised as Co-Founder of Brawn, becoming an equal co-owner of the business with CEO and Founder Sohail Rashid.
To strengthen governance and execution through the company’s next phase of growth, he will also join Paul Halliwell as a Co-Chair of Brawn. Richardson, Co-Founder of Brawn and best known as former Executive Chairman of Gymshark, will lead on strategy, investor relations and strategic partnerships. Halliwell, Brawn’s founding Chair, will focus on board governance and organisational development as the business scales across more than 700 UK gym sites.
Richardson is narrowing his business interests to focus on three strategic ventures – with Brawn now one of his key priorities.
Paul Richardson, Co-Founder & newly appointed Chairman of Brawn, said:
“With Brawn we are building the gym operator’s first plug-and-play SGST platform – a model that can scale globally and help millions of people get stronger. I see in Brawn the same potential I saw when we scaled Gymshark. The structural opportunity is enormous, and I’m excited to double down alongside Sohail to bring this vision to life.”
Mark Culwick, Co-Investor in Brawn, commented:
“Brawn has achieved the rare combination of vision and execution. With a proven model, contracted distribution, and structural tailwinds in health and fitness – including the surge in demand created by GLP-1 medications – Brawn is uniquely placed to capture this opportunity. I’m delighted to join Paul and Sohail on this journey.”
Strategic Opportunity
The new investment with expanded leadership capabilities come at a time of continued growth in the global fitness industry. It is now widely recognised within the medical community that the single largest determinant of a healthy and long life is strength and muscle as evidenced by Harvard Medical school -
“Want to live longer and better? Do strength training” ¹
With an ageing population, the positive demographic factors combined with the increasing recognition of the benefits of strength training is resulting in greater gym membership and driving the previously unmet need for structured and financially accessible strength training opportunities The rise of GLP-1 weight-loss treatments is expected to provide a further boost to demand as millions look to complement medical interventions with strength training as part of healthy lifestyle changes to support long term success.
Brawn is exceptionally well positioned to capitalise on these effects with its exclusive contracts with major gym operators combined with its unique small group strength training model supporting both gym goers, personal trainers and gym operators to all achieve successful outcomes.
Following the successful implementation across several major UK operators the company is actively seeking to roll out the model further across the UK as well as expanding into North America and Europe with its unique and proven proposition.
About Brawn
Brawn makes strength training more accessible and inclusive by delivering small-group coaching through a tech-enabled marketplace. Partnering with leading gym operators, Brawn provides affordable, coach-led sessions while giving gyms and personal trainers a proven revenue engine. With contracts across 700+ sites, Brawn is scaling rapidly to become the category leader in small-group strength training.
Press contact:
sohail.rashid@brawn.co.uk
Reference - Harvard Medical School
¹ Want to live longer and better? Do strength training - Harvard Health 15 February 2021