David Lloyd members accuse Tim Henman’s previous membership of ‘pure greed’ after launching £140-a-month ‘queue-jumping’ move

David Lloyd members are equal – but some are more equal than others, angry health club users say.

The exclusive gym and leisure company has introduced a new £140-a-month ‘queue jumping’ package, and standard members, who already pay as much as £3,000 a year, are not happy.

The ‘signature’ package was trial-launched at 13 of the premium gym’s branches and allows patrons to book tennis courts a day ahead of standard users.

War has broken out in response to former tennis player Tim Henman’s old club in Raynes Park as hundreds of furious members have signed a petition to protest against the new package. 

It’s ‘pure greed’ by David Lloyd, standard users say, rendering their current memberships ‘meaningless’ and ‘monetising’ a capacity issue from courts that were already ‘extremely hard to book’.

This is nowhere more pertinent than at the club in Raynes Park, next to Wimbledon, where one standard member told of the troubles in exclusive health club paradise.

One anonymous user said to The Telegraph, tennis courts are so popular at the Wimbledon adjacent club that members already have to race against each other, frantically logging into their accounts at 7.30am nine days in advance to book their games.

This member said his branch was not part of the trial, but his fellow health enthusiasts have rallied together to start a petition against the ‘signature’ package, as worry spreads that it could be rolled out across all the gyms permanently.

Health club members have begun a petition to stop the new signature ‘queue jumping’ membership being rolled out in Raynes Park

Tennis legend Tim Henman was trained by David Lloyd at the Raynes Park centre (pictured)

He and his partner spend £2,385 a year each on their membership, but he said that a single only membership costs roughly £3,000.

Signature members are able to book their courts 10 days ahead of when they want to play, unlike standard club users, who can only book nine days before.

Now, 342 club goers have signed a petition to stop the rollout of the new signature membership as a permanent option at Raynes Park.

The petition reads: ‘At David Lloyd Raynes Park, court availability is already severely constrained. Members regularly struggle to book tennis courts even at the exact moment bookings are released.

‘Introducing a tier that allows a subset of members to book earlier than everyone else would inevitably worsen an existing access problem.’

It added: ‘The distinguishing feature of this tier is not additional health services, but earlier access to court bookings. Framing this primarily as a wellness offering does not align with how court availability is experienced in practice.’

The Raynes Park member reportedly said that the new membership ‘is the quiet conversion of basic court access into a pay-to-play model that strips value from existing memberships’.

‘Introducing paid priority access does not fix a capacity issue, it monetises it,’ the Raynes Park member added.

Online, Redditors have threatened to ‘cancel and take their money elsewhere’ in retaliation to the new membership scheme.

David Lloyd defended the trial of the signature membership

Former tennis player David Lloyd set up his first health club in Heston in 1982, and now his company runs 109 centres across the UK.

The Raynes Park branch is of particular notoriety as tennis legend Tim Henman was trained by Lloyd there. Judy Murray, Andy Murray’s mother also has visited to give tips to youngsters and coaches. Boris Becker has also made an appearance in a charity match against Sue Barker there, The Times reported.

A David Lloyd spokesperson defended the signature membership. They told the Daily Mail: ‘At David Lloyd Clubs, we offer a range of membership packages designed to suit different needs and budgets.

‘We are currently trialling a new Signature package, created to provide personalised health and wellness support.

‘Only a very small number of these memberships are available, so we don’t anticipate any meaningful impact on court booking availability, while the package includes premium health checks, curated health plans, tailored personal training based on the results of those checks and a range of member benefits.

‘The trial is running until the end of March at 13 of our 109 clubs across the UK.’