FaceGym Signs for Victoria Leeds Studio

The facial-fitness brand, backed by India’s Reliance Retail, will open a 1,772 sq ft studio at Victoria Gate as part of a 28-site UK rollout

Facial-fitness brand FaceGym has signed for a studio at Victoria Leeds, adding a fast-growing national name to the city-centre destination’s tenant mix. The brand will take a 1,772 sq ft unit in Victoria Gate, the scheme owned and operated by Redical, for one of the studios in its ambitious UK franchise expansion. FaceGym offers non-invasive facial workouts combining massage, technology and skincare and the Leeds site will be run by its franchise partner Today Forever. The signing is another sign of national brands choosing Leeds as they grow beyond London.

Why This Matters For Leeds

Retail leasing is a real barometer of a city centre’s health and landing a growing national brand matters for Leeds. FaceGym is in the middle of a large, investor-backed expansion and choosing Victoria Leeds is a vote of confidence in the pitch and its affluent catchment. A more diversified mix of beauty, wellness and experience-led tenants helps insulate against the pressures facing traditional retail. For the wider city, every national brand that commits adds footfall, jobs and momentum to a Leeds retail scene competing hard for exactly these operators.

What FaceGym Brings to Victoria Leeds

The 1,772 sq ft studio in Victoria Gate will offer FaceGym’s signature treatments. Described as non-invasive facial workouts that use massage techniques, technology and performance-led skincare to sculpt and tone. It will be operated under franchise by Today Forever, the health and wellness franchise business led by chief executive Zahrabibi Kachra, which is also behind FaceGym’s Cambridge studio. The deal fits Redical’s stated strategy of broadening the destination beyond traditional retail and food and beverage into lifestyle and wellness. Redical was represented by agents LM and Central Retail. For the landlord, it continues a run of signings aimed at differentiating the centre; for the brand, it extends a UK footprint that began in London and now reaches across several major cities.

“The city has a thriving beauty, wellness, and retail scene, making it the perfect location for our next studio. We’ve seen growing demand from customers across Yorkshire.”

— Angelo Castello, CEO, FaceGym

A Brand in Rapid Expansion

FaceGym was founded in London in 2014 by Inge Theron and has grown into an international beauty brand with studios in the UK and United States. It is now pursuing a franchise model, with a stated plan to open 28 UK sites over three years, a rollout given extra firepower by a strategic minority investment last year from Reliance Retail, India’s largest retailer. The Leeds studio is one of the sites in that programme. For Victoria Leeds, the arrival adds to a tenant list that already blends heritage arcades, premium retail and hospitality, including recent hospitality signings such as The Cut & Craft.