Lifetime Training is to be bought by its management in a deal backed by private equity firm Silverfleet Capital.

The leisure training giant – whose clients include Fitness First, David Lloyd Leisure and Hilton – will be taken over by the existing management team, which will invest alongside Silverfleet.

The deal, details of which have not been released, sees the exit of private equity investor Sovereign Capital, which backed the last management buyout of Lifetime in 2011.

Having been founded in 1995 by Heather Frankham, Lifetime Training has enjoyed stellar growth in recent years and has doubled its number of staff since 2012. The most recent accounts for Lifetime Training Group Ltd show for the financial year to 31 July 2015, the firm reported a pre-tax profit of £8.8m on turnover of £43.4m.

Silverfleet Capital’s investment is expected to help Lifetime Training to accelerate its growth plans and could lead to selected bolt-on acquisitions to expand its service offering to new and existing clients. The company sees the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017 – which targets the creation of three million apprenticeships by 2020 – as an opportunity for significant growth.

As part of its new chapter, Lifetime Training has appointed Simon Withey as non-executive chair, who will work closely with existing CEO Alex Khan. Withey is the former CEO of Survitec and has held senior positions at organisations including VT Group, Babcock International Group and GEC in his 30-year career.

“As the market continues to evolve there are exciting opportunities ahead for Lifetime Training,” said Khan. “With the experience, strategic direction and active support of the Silverfleet Capital team, we look forward to entering a new phase, which will see us growing our proposition and extending our services and the value we offer to our clients.”