Ritual suddenly shuts all 4 gyms, in 'provisional liquidation'

SINGAPORE - Members of Ritual Gym were caught by surprise on Feb 29, when the boutique fitness outlet announced the sudden closure of all four branches in Singapore as it has “placed the company into provisional liquidation”.

Started in 2013 by personal trainer Ian Tan, mixed martial arts athlete Brad Robinson and television host Olli Pettigrew, Ritual was touted as a first-of-its-kind fitness gym to offer 30-minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts.

In an email sent to members and seen by The Straits Times, the Ritual team wrote: “We share this message with you today with great sadness. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to continue operating, we have decided to close the business and have ceased operations at all locations in Singapore.

“While we have placed the company into provisional liquidation, we are also exploring ways to get the Ritual experience back up and running as soon as possible.”

Cameron Lindsay Duncan and David Dong-Won Kim of KodaMentha Pte Ltd have been appointed provisional liquidators to handle the proceedings, said the email.

Ritual gym members were saddened and shocked to hear of the abrupt closure on Feb 29, as they were still able to attend training sessions the day before. Promotions for its memberships were also still running up to the day it shuttered.

Ritual’s website is still up but its Facebook page is no longer accessible and the Instagram account is now private.

The gyms were located in Holland Village, Orchard Road, Tiong Bahru and Joo Chiat, and memberships were priced from $219 a month (three months unlimited, off peak hours) and from $349 for 10 sessions.

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One member who only wanted to be identified as Ms Liu joined the gym in 2016 and used it regularly until she moved overseas for work. She rejoined recently when she returned to Singapore and signed up for a $215.20 per month membership after a 20 per cent discount.

She said: “I started getting suspicious when I saw ads online, given that this was a fairly premium, no free trials gym. But I didn’t think too much about it and signed up again during a year-end Christmas promotion last year.

“Given that we’re charged for this monthly, I don’t feel as ‘cheated’ as if I had paid thousands of dollars upfront. But it’s shocking because again, this is a gym that survived the pandemic largely intact. Personally, it feels troublesome having to find a new gym and fitness routine to fit into my schedule.”

Others took to social networks like Reddit to air their grievances, with one member who reportedly paid the membership fee two days ago asking, “what are the chances of getting back my money?”

Another customer said: “Unfortunately, I have a package with them with a large number of sessions unused. Other affected members PM (private message) me, maybe good to start a group to pursue some recourse collectively.”

Ritual is the latest fitness centre to be hit after the closure of at least three gyms in 2023 - Fenix Fitness on Aug 14, and Haus Athletics and UFC Gym in May.

In September 2023, the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) reported that consumers lost more than $20,000 in advance payments for gym and fitness club packages in the first six months of the year.

Its president Melvin Yong said then that consumers should consider shorter-term memberships or pay-per-use options, as it is generally challenging to recover their monies for prepaid memberships in a sudden business closure.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.