UK-based Virgin Active has announced it will invest £150m in expanding its portfolio across South East Asia.

It is believed that Thailand – where the company currently owns three clubs – will be one of the focal points of the expansion, with up to 20 new clubs earmarked for the country.

Speaking to Health Club Management, CEO Paul Woolf said that in total the group is looking to open between 30 and 40 new clubs across the Asia Pacific region.

“We opened our 10th club in the region last year and will now invest £150m to take our estate to 40-50 clubs,” Woolf said.

“We’ve been quite slow in the first couple of years, really working to understand what members are looking for out there, making sure that our clubs are designed very specifically to meet their needs.”

He added that Virgin was also looking at other territories to grow its business.

“In southern Africa, we opened 10 clubs last year and will launch another 15 this year, including two fabulous Collection clubs, one of which will be in Cape Town’s V&A Centre.”