Businessman Ben Dunne has permanently shut down half of the gyms in his gym group due to the business impact of Covid-19. In an interview, Mr Dunne described the Covid-19 business impact on his gym business as "horrendous". "I’ll give you an insight into what Covid has cost us," he said. "We had 12 clubs - we now have six clubs.
Our revenues are less than 50% of what they were pre-Covid," he added. Mr Dunne said that the business was heading towards €13 million in revenues pre-Covid "and in the current year we are heading towards €6 million".
He said that in the group's current financial year to the end of May "we will make some money". "I have lost an awful lot of money but we have swung away from that situation and we are making a profit again," he said.
Mr Dunne said that the group’s new financial year starts in June "and we are forecasting an increase in profit again". Mr Dunne listed off the six Ben Dunne gyms he shut down - Lucan, Jervis Street, Beacon, Sandyford in Dublin along with Navan and Waterford.