Forbes has published an excellent, in-depth interview with James Balfour, co-founder of portfolio company 1Rebel. As Forbes puts it, ‘the traditional health and fitness model is broken. James Balfour saw this and pounced’, launching innovative, boutique gym chain 1Rebel in 2015.

James grew up immersed in the health/fitness world – he is the son of Mike Balfour OBE, founder of Fitness First gyms, which became the world’s largest fitness chain with 550 clubs in 21 different countries and 1.5 million members.

James and Mike, along with Giles Dean, also launched Jatomi Fitness in 2008, which built 70 gyms across eastern Europe, Turkey and south-east Asia, which Balfour and Dean then left to launch 1Rebel.

With 5 existing sites across the capital (St Mary Axe, Broadgate, Bayswater, South Bank and Victoria), 1Rebel will be announcing more clubs for central London, as well as an international opening, this year.

Here, James discusses ‘growing a business in an ever-changing landscape, raising the bar in an already saturated market and designing his cinematic star, the multi-floored Victoria spin studio’ –

How 1Rebel is Raising the Bar in Fitness

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