Gym devastated by Leeds Boxing Day floods to reopen after £1 million revamp

A Leeds gym that was left partially submerged under four feet of water during the devastating Boxing Day floods is due to reopen on Friday.
Xercise4Less, Kirkstall Road, Leeds. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.Xercise4Less, Kirkstall Road, Leeds. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.
Xercise4Less, Kirkstall Road, Leeds. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.

Xercise4Less Leeds, on the Kirkstall Industrial Park, has undergone a £1million revamp after flooding saw the firm write off 400 pieces of equipment including state-of-the-art MMA cages and boxing rings.

Leeds rugby legend Kevin Sinfield and 11 of his Yorkshire Carnegie teammates will officially reopen the site this week exactly two months on from floods that damaged more than 500 businesses and around 1,700 homes in Leeds alone.

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It comes amid the ongoing rebuilding effort in flood-hit areas of Leeds, with the neighbouring Climbing Lab also managing to open to climbers this week following the deluge.

Xercise4Less, in Kirkstall, after the worst of the floods.Xercise4Less, in Kirkstall, after the worst of the floods.
Xercise4Less, in Kirkstall, after the worst of the floods.

Jon Wright, chief executive of Xercise4Less, said: “At the time of the flood we were inundated with offers from the local community looking to give us a helping hand. Unfortunately, health and safety wouldn’t let us enlist our own recruits so we wanted to use this refurbishment as a chance to celebrate getting back onto our feet and thank all the wonderful people who showed us so much support.”

A spokeswoman for the gym chain added that members were allowed to either freeze their memberships or gain full access to other sites during the two-month closure of the Kirkstall site.

The flooding is believed to have prevented 12,000 members from accessing the gym over the festive season.

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Kevin Sinfield, who will be joined by body builders and nutrition experts at Friday’s relaunch, said: “Gyms aren’t just places to work out anymore, they’re communities – so it’s great to know that the local people have their space back.”

Visit xercise4less.co.uk for further information.