UFC Gym says it will reopen in summer but Instagram gone and customers still owed

The UFC Gym has pledged that it will open at its new site in Castle Marina in the summer - but it still owes customers who have been charged while the gym has been closed. The brand, which closed its Huntingdon Street premises in November last year, has come under fire for a lack of transparency and communication regarding the opening at the "bigger, better" location at the retail park - which it first said would happen early this year.

Now, the company has started to advertise for its reopening. A feature explaining what is on offer at the new site says that the "modern facility will boast a huge open-plan training layout featuring an extensive machine and free-weight floor, turfed functional fitness zone, dedicated cardio area, a UFC Octagon and fight sport training facilities that are the trademark of this recognisable brand".

There will be a "raised catwalk" leading to a mezzanine second floor with "bespoke studio and dojo environments" that look down over the main gym area. And there'll be a nutritional bar, consultation and recovery areas, lockers, showers and a sauna.

When Nottinghamshire Live visited the premises on Tuesday, May 14, at around 9.30am, it appeared much the same as it had done when we last went there in February. Formerly home to Mothercare, the faint branding of the children's store can still be made out on the glass on the front of the building.

The sliding double doors were opening and closing seemingly without any movement under the sensor. But behind that, the shutters remained down and there was no evidence of anybody working at the site.

The interior can still be seen through small gaps in the black paper covering the large windows. Inside, there is a lot of equipment laid out across the huge space.

But nothing seems to have been done with it and the room - a carcass and which still doesn't seem to have had work started on it - also appears to have hardly changed at all since our last visit. There are two posters stuck to the exterior windows with QR codes that take you to the UFC Gym UK site to register for a membership.

Also there is a file copy of a certificate of incorporation of a private limited company, from the Government's Companies House, which says that "NG1 GYM LTD" was incorporated on June 27, 2023. But that is it.

Online, there have been no posts on the UFC Gym Nottingham Facebook page since January - and only a week ago, there was a comment under that last post from a man saying he still had not been paid back the £100 he alleges he is owed, alongside many other customers who continued to be charged for memberships after the gym was closed.

And the UFC Gym Nottingham Instagram account appears to have been deleted. There has been minimal activity on any social media accounts belonging to the UK arm of the UFC Gym since November, including on the @ufcgymuk Instagram account, on which the last post was on November 17, and on the @ufcgymcityroad account, for its new London site, on which the last post was on November 12.