Another gym bites the dust; Fenix Fitness closes abruptly, with S$5 million owed to 400 creditors
Paige Lim
Published Tue, Aug 15, 2023 · 8:10 pm Updated Tue, Aug 15, 2023 · 10:59 pm
Fenix Fitness' sole outlet at Raffles Place. Its operating company Gym Alliance has been placed under provisional liquidation.
PHOTO: FENIX FITNESS FACEBOOK PAGE
Insolvency
GYM Alliance, which operates personal training gym Fenix Fitness, has been placed under provisional liquidation after abruptly shutting its outlet at Raffles Place.
Gary Loh, Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory have been appointed provisional liquidators of the company. A creditors’ meeting will be held on or before Sep 13.
Around 400 provisional creditors – most of them gym members – are owed an estimated S$5 million in total based on latest accounts, Loh told The Business Times (BT).
The amount includes unconsumed packages and memberships, payments owed to vendors, as well as loans taken on by the owners of Gym Alliance, he said.
Members of Fenix Fitness were informed via e-mail on Monday evening (Aug 14) that the company will be ceasing its operations “with immediate effect”.
All booked training sessions have been cancelled, according to the e-mail seen by BT.
Before members were notified, a meeting was held with the gym’s trainers on the same evening to inform them of the closure, Loh added.
A notice on Gym Alliance’s provisional liquidation and a list of frequently asked questions was put up on Fenix Fitness’ website.
“It is with deep regret that we share the saddening news that as of Aug 14, 2023, Fenix Fitness has ceased trading operations and has been placed into voluntary liquidation,” said the notice.
“A story that began with a dream to redefine Singapore’s fitness landscape and make a difference in countless lives has come to an unexpected end.”
Based on filings from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Gym Alliance was incorporated in February 2021.
Annabelle Yeoh Chee Hoong, Imanishi Thomas Juon, Rohit Raj Giri and Michael Harry Langton are listed as the company’s current shareholders.
According to the latest financial results retrieved by BT, Gym Alliance posted a net loss of S$732,581 for its full year ended Dec 31, 2021. It recorded a revenue of S$51,075.
The company had total assets of S$1.9 million and total liabilities of S$2.1 million as of Dec 31, 2021. It generated a negative cash flow of S$997,155 from operating activities.
Fenix Fitness said on its website that members who are owed any amounts by Gym Alliance can submit a proof of debt to the provisional liquidators.
A gym member, who declined to be named, told BT that he had paid S$5,000 in July for a package comprising 36 personal training sessions. He had 25 sessions remaining at the time of the gym’s closure.
“The closure took me by surprise,” he said. “There was no indication that the company was in any form of any financial distress.”
In fact, he had attended a training session at Fenix Fitness on the morning of Aug 14, just hours before the gym announced its closure.
“There were a couple of new clients that (the staff) were talking to. They were showing people around and describing the packages … it felt like everything was normal,” he added.
Fenix Fitness’ closure comes after two other gyms shut down in May: UFC Gym, the franchise of US-based Ultimate Fighting Championship, and homegrown boutique fitness studio Haus Athletics.
In both cases, customers with prepaid memberships and packages said they were left stranded and unable to obtain refunds.
