New polling from SPORTL, the London-based pay-as-you-train fitness booking platform, asked its community habits and spending psychologies around purchasing a round at the pub versus a gym class.
In a snapshot poll of SPORTL’s Instagram community and the audiences of its founders and ambassadors, 83% of respondents said a £30 fitness class feels more expensive than £30 spent on a pub round – a verdict that held across every audience polled, ranging from 74% to 90%.
Yet the same respondents dramatically underestimated how little of that £30 actually stays with the gym. Two thirds (66%) believed an independent gym keeps just £5 or less per £30 booking once rent, staff, kit and tax are covered – less than the price of a single London pint. Finally, asked to rate their guilt at paying £30 for a class, respondents averaged roughly 7 out of 10. Typical responses included “5/10 guilt” and feeling guilty if they already had a gym membership.
Pubs benefit from draught duty relief on every pint pulled, and in January 2026 ministers handed pubs and live music venues a further 15% business rates discount for 2026-27, with bills frozen in real terms for the two years after. Independent gyms and studios received no equivalent support, despite losing the same 40% retail, hospitality and leisure rates relief that was abolished in April, despite repeated calls from industry body ukactive for the fitness sector to be given parity with hospitality on tax.
Ryan Lovelock, co-founder of SPORTL commented: “Britain’s pubs are protected as national treasures, and the businesses keeping the nation healthy are left to absorb rising costs alone. We aren’t saying pick one or the other, there is a need for balance. We are asking that consumers and the government respect the costs being imposed on independent gyms so more people don’t feel guilty when it comes to clicking pay or support is put in place for their survival.”
Ryan O’Leary, Owner of E1 Crossfit, a SPORTL partner gym added to the conversation: “When someone pays £30 for a class, they assume most of it lands in my pocket. The reality is that rent on a London unit, instructor wages, insurance, kit that needs replacing, energy bills and then tax, means I’m left with less than a fiver. It can sting to watch the pub across the road get a rates discount and duty relief while we’re told a workout is a luxury. Every booking through people choosing local keeps our lights on.”
SPORTL is calling for a national conversation about the true cost of staying fit, and for the same ‘support local’ energy reserved for pubs and coffee shops to be extended to the independent gyms, studios and boxes on Britain’s high streets.
Launched in 2026, SPORTL is a London-based pay-as-you-train fitness booking platform with four simple steps: Scroll. Tap. Book. Sweat. The no membership and no subscription model give users the opportunity to explore different workouts, studios and trainers without the commitment of multiple memberships. For fitness businesses, SPORTL opens the doors to new audiences and fills underutilised gym capacity. SPORTL is on a mission to make fitness more accessible, flexible and discoverable for everyone, no matter their lifestyle.
Methodology
Snapshot polling conducted via Instagram Stories on 2 June 2026 across SPORTL’s official channel and the personal accounts of SPORTL’s founders and ambassadors. Approximately 300 votes and responses were gathered across three questions. Figures quoted are pooled from polls where vote counts were recorded: “which feels more expensive”: 110 of 133 votes (83%) chose the £30 fitness class; “how much is left for the gym”: 63 of 96 votes (66%) answered £5 or less. As an opt-in social poll, results are indicative rather than nationally representative.
caroline.hodgson@notbornyesterday.co.uk
Not Born Yesterday
