Reproduced from The Post

Profits double at Jackie Skelly Fitness
Sunday, February 11, 2007 - By Susan Mitchell
Profits at gym chain Jackie Skelly Fitness doubled to more than €1.5 million in 2005.

Accounts for Map Dance Ltd, the company behind the gyms, show they had turnover of €7.6 million in the financial year to the end of November 2005, up from €6.6 million the previous year.

The firm had accumulated profits of €2.1 million, up from just over €1 million a year earlier.

The company’s finances improved as it opened new gyms and attracted more members.

The fitness chain was set up in 1993 by joint managing directors Jackie Skelly and Mark Tooke, who are the majority shareholders.

The firm’s shareholders received a dividend of almost €230,000 in the 2005 financial year.

The directors of the firm also shared remuneration and pension contributions of just under €300,000.

Employment costs for the firm’s 98 employees came to €2.45 million in 2005.

The gym chain has a number of outlets in Dublin and gyms in Greystones in Wicklow, Navan in Meath and Drogheda in Louth. It has about 20,000 members who pay €65 a month, or €75 for a premium package.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the firm brought in debt collectors to chase members who had broken 12-month contracts and not paid their monthly direct debits.

Tooke said that the firm had lost a significant amount of money from broken contracts and said that debt collection was standard practice in Britain.