Love the refurbishment 👌🏻 very organised

Hello. I am a member for around 10 years I've been in many pure gyms around the UK and I have full membership which cost £30 a month. But what wrong with the air conditioner, stop pushing a cold air in winter times especially in a studio I got sick, I do not want to come in gym pay £30 for getting pneumonia. Should left today earlier because I started to feel cold and sick. My lovest puregym becames more and more uncomfortable. Unfortunately. Too overcrowded with renovation.

I am writing to share a detailed review of my experience following the recent refurbishment of the Manchester Urban Exchange gym. I have been a committed member at this location for some time, and I wanted to provide considered feedback on how these changes have affected my overall experience.

One of the main reasons I originally chose PureGym, and specifically the Urban Exchange site, was that it felt noticeably less overcrowded than other gyms in Manchester. The space, layout, and general accessibility of equipment were a key part of its appeal. Unfortunately, following the refurbishment, that distinction has been lost. The gym now feels comparable to many other overcrowded gyms I had deliberately chosen to avoid, giving the impression that PureGym is moving towards copying common layouts and trends rather than preserving what previously worked well at this site.

Since the refurbishment, the gym consistently feels more congested, with a clear reduction in usable floor space. The free weights area is smaller, making it difficult to find an available bench or sufficient room to train effectively. When the studio is in use, there is also no open floor space elsewhere in the gym to carry out basic mat-based bodyweight exercises, which further limits training options during busy periods.

The changing rooms also have noticeably reduced in size. Locker availability is more limited, and the restricted space makes it harder to move around comfortably, particularly at peak times.

A large section of the gym has been reallocated to a women-only workout area. While I understand the intention behind creating inclusive spaces, this change has further reduced shared floor space without any noticeable increase in overall capacity. There has also been no meaningful improvement in cardio equipment provision, which remains heavily occupied during the times I am able to attend. The entrance area, now crowded with treadmills, feels congested and unwelcoming on arrival.

What has been most disappointing is that these changes were not communicated to members in advance. This is particularly difficult to reconcile given that membership prices have since increased, despite the overall experience and accessibility of facilities having declined. As someone who works full-time and can only attend at certain times, suggestions to “come at quieter times” or “use other gyms” do not reflect my circumstances, nor the fact that I chose and pay for this location specifically.

I am sharing this review in the hope that it is taken on board constructively and used to reassess space allocation, overcrowding, and overall member value at this site.

I’m absolutely delighted with the refurbishment - and yes, especially with the women’s-only area. I’ve been waiting for this since I joined the gym four years ago, so finally seeing it materialise feels less like a “bold experiment” and more like a long-overdue correction.

Contrary to some dramatic interpretations in some reviews, the women’s-only space is not a return to the 1920s, nor some dystopian act of segregation or marginalisation. It’s an additional OPTION created in response to long-standing and very real feedback from women who wanted to train without feeling watched, judged, or perpetually aware of their surroundings.

Because speaking personally, I used to feel uncomfortable coming to the gym BECAUSE there was no women’s-only space. To the point where I skipped workouts regularly, and at times avoided the gym altogether for months. That’s not theoretical - that was my reality. Apparently that experience counts less than someone feeling mildly inconvenienced by a wall.

For the record, the common areas remain fully accessible to everyone. And women continue to use them - shockingly - just as they did before. No one has been “hidden behind a wall.” No one has been banned. No equipment has been confiscated. The world continues to spin. If being a woman in the common area now feels “weird,” that’s not a design flaw or a management issue - that’s a personal discomfort to unpack.

The argument that the gym now feels smaller because of the women’s-only area is… creative. The equipment is the same, just rearranged. Women didn’t suddenly spawn post-refurbishment… we were already here, using machines, occupying space, existing. And the gym feeling busy at (peak) times is hardly a groundbreaking new phenomenon - it did that before, too. That’s what gyms tend to do when people use them.

So, having this space changes everything. I feel confident, consistent, and actually excited to show up. I try new exercises. I come more often. Shocking how comfort improves participation. I know I’m far from the only woman who feels this way… we just tend to speak less loudly than people upset about losing imaginary territory.

As for the rest of the refurbishment - it’s a clear upgrade. The gym looks better, functions better, and - judging by how busy it is - people actually want to be here. If that feels “cramped,” I’d suggest the issue isn’t the layout, but the unsettling realisation that the space was never designed around just one group to begin with.

It wasn’t a stellar gym to begin with, but post “refurb” they’ve crammed even more machines in, and moved most of the running to a nice spot between the disabled loo and car park, with zero natural light. Good job guys, will be finding a new gym.

My recent visit to Urban Exchange PureGym left me genuinely disappointed. A staff member, Jaco Lam, displayed a shockingly poor attitude and was outright rude during my training session. Instead of offering support or simply allowing me to focus, he disrupted my workout and created an uncomfortable atmosphere.

I expect a gym to be a place where members feel respected and can train without unnecessary interference. This experience was the opposite. I’m extremely dissatisfied and hope management takes this seriously, as this level of behaviour from staff is unacceptable.

keep getting PCN tickets even when I enter my car registration into their damn tablet inside the gym.

also baysentry who are thieves operate the parking which will lie and prevent you from disputing the ticket.

Recently, some of the machines were renewed, which is a positive step. The gym is quite overcrowded, but given the price and demand, that’s to be expected.

The main issue I’ve noticed is with the air ventilation, smell, and temperature. During the heatwave this summer, several air conditioners weren’t working (I even emailed management but received no response).Now there continues to be a persistent bad smell and poor ventilation. Please do something to address this - whether it’s installing proper ventilation, adding windows, or even using pleasant diffusers. It feels like an issue that should be fixable. Thanks

I hope the gym can review its cleaning schedule and staff arrangements. Having male staff enter the women’s changing room while it’s in use can be uncomfortable for female members. Privacy is important and should be respected.

Also, there’s often a shortage of yoga mats, especially during busy hours. It would be great if more could be provided so everyone can fully enjoy their workouts.

Update as of 23 Aug:
When I gave my feedback, PureGym actually made improvements within just one week. To me, that was impressively fast, and it truly showed that they respect their members’ opinions. PureGym is fantastic!

Everything is nice

Very crowded,

Walked in to try and join got spoken 2 like I didn't belong there and got told to get out the man made me feel very uncomfortable this is my first time of doing something like this and got made to feel like crap

It was super busy on Sunday afternoon. We needed to wait in a line, to use equipment.

Puregym is slightly more expensive than its competitors like the gym group so I thought it would be better.
The equipment is identical to its competitors with the only difference being they've been painted black.
The changing rooms are worse than the gym group, the showers don't lock and they're very dirty, not to mention the uncomfortable atmosphere as it seems standard for people to take photos/record in the changing rooms which is really off-putting. I've also heard multiple judgemental conversations in the changing rooms, such as laughing about fat people they had seem in the gym.
If you like to show off then this gym is perfect for you, its very 'instagramable', but if you're someone who doesn't care for flashy things and is wanting a functional and pleasant gym experience look elsewhere

Read some other reviews before joining, about various things like a smell of sweat and too warm etc. But I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't had any issue like that.

I only go off-peak, and as such everything is always available for use. It's kept very clean, and members all seem very polite and friendly.

I like the place, the price, and the ability to pause or end the membership whenever I would want to.

Aircon not working sometimes it’s freezing cold in changing room and spider web on equipment

Very straightforward joining process. Happy with the discount and wasn't aware there were so many resources with the app.

Great experience of joinning. Very nice place. Clean place. Friendly staff.

Met all my expectations, cheap, cheerful, accessible and clean friendly environment

Urban Exchange is the best equipped of the Pure Gyms I have had access to so far. Outside of hardcore bodybuilding gyms, it has equipment such as a seated calf machine butterfly machine (side laterals), very decent (free wight) leg press machines and a large area for use of free weights, including two shrug bars (essential in bodybuilding).

Urban Exchange sits out from other mixed gyms as it caters for fitness enthusiastic, powerlifters, most bodybuilders, individuals looking to bulk, individuals looking to get leaner or just keep themselves in a general shape. In otherwards, Urban Exchange does all it can to attract and encourage members of all different levels reghardlress of their goals.

Urban Exchange also attracts more an age group above students (no offence to students, however they do spend a lot of time on their phones between sets resting for 5 minutes at a time leaving other gym members a bit frustrated in peak time). So, most members are usually considerate of other member’s needs.

As feedback should always be balanced, the downsides are that there are some members, especially in peak time, who will hog two machines and a set of dumbbells and occasionally go as far as messing about filming their workouts to social media.

As a positive to this, I’ve noted that over the last 12 months, gym etiquette at Urban Exchange has generally become better with these few frustrating occasions. I recognise that Pure Gym have been attempting to better educate members on basic gym etiquette and I appreciate that (it may surprise you how high the bar is regarding gym etiquette within hardcore bodybuilding gyms).

So thank you for making every attempt to educate gym members on being more considerate of other paid members.