In October 2023, Gym Marine celebrated a momentous milestone as it entered its 10th year of trading. Founder, Ed Thomas, has taken the company from strength to strength since 2014, with their gym designs and equipment now featuring on over 60% of the top 100 largest superyachts.
Over the past nine years, Gym Marine have worked on over 450 superyacht gym projects, ranging from full custom gym design for new builds and refits to charter equipment rentals. Gym Marine works alongside the world’s leading fitness brands as well as creating bespoke equipment for yachts made from premium materials with unique customisation and branding.
Ed Thomas, Founder
Ed Thomas founded Gym Marine in 2014, following a career in yachting. He recalls the frustration of having to repeatedly polish a set of corroded dumbbells aboard the yacht he was working on, and it was that which prompted him to find the solution. It wasn’t all plain sailing – his first endeavour to sell a rowing machine to a superyacht left him 17 Euros out of pocket, but today Gym Marine’s annual turnover is in excess of £3 million.
Since its inception, Gym Marine has expanded into the luxury residential and commercial sectors with many of these projects commissioned by yacht owners seeking the same bespoke, high specification gyms for their residential properties.
Gym Marine is headquartered in Bath, UK, and in 2019 opened their first overseas subsidiary in Amsterdam, whilst the latest hub in Fort Lauderdale began trading in January of this year.
One of Gym Marine’s biggest projects to date saw them outfitting over 20 oil and gas carriers for BP Shipping, providing a valuable insight into the importance of quality exercise facilities for crew welfare. They continue working to improve the science and planning that go into crew gym spaces and have nominated Saltlick Fitness as their crew wellbeing partner. This collaboration offers SaltLick Fitness’ specialised crew fitness programmes as an optional extra to any yacht or crew working with Gym Marine.
The most recent addition to the Gym Marine Group is the launch of sister company, Coral Spa Consultants. This strategic move to provide a more holistic wellness offering to clients has already proved extremely popular.
Gym Marine have spent their first decade firmly establishing themselves as market leaders; building on their brand and expertise, forming strong relationships with key stakeholders in the industry, from shipyards and designers to owners’ representatives and crew. Over the next decade, the company aims to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve further on the service they offer.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank all our clients and suppliers who have trusted and supported our business over the past nine years. I could not have imagined when I first started the company, whilst working as yacht crew, that we could achieve such a strong reputation within the industry and a raft of high-profile repeat clients. I am hugely grateful for my team, and in particular my business partner Guy Royffe, for all they do and the brilliant culture we have created at Gym Marine over the years. We are excited to see what the next 10 years have in store.” – Edward Thomas, Managing Director of the Gym Marine Group.
Abeking and Rasmussen 68m Soaring
What Gym Marine’s clients have to say…
Congratulations to Ed and the Gym Marine team on entering a momentous 10th year in business! Their specific expertise in ‘best in class’ ocean-going gym installations has always been perfectly on-point, and 100% customer-centric – a really focused and innovative service.
Jim Dixon –Managing Partner, Winch Design
West Nautical have been working with Gym Marine for a number of years over multiple projects. Ed, Guy and their team always deliver top results with superb services and are always available to help our team or the crew for setup and training. The best in the business, and looking forward to many years of future collaboration together.
Geoff Moore – Managing Director, West Nautical
I would like to congratulate the team at Gym Marine on ten years of trading.
We at Superyacht Technical Services Ltd have used Gym Marine for many years on many projects. The Gym Marine team are extremely helpful throughout the new build process, from assisting with the initial specification through to setup and commissioning of the equipment. We are able to rely on Gym Marine to assist with all aspects at all stages. It is a joy to work with a professional company that are there if and when things go wrong and not simply sell, supply and forget! Many thanks for all your assistance over the years.
Andrew Tree – Principal Consultant, Superyacht Technical Services