Melbourne entrepreneur Nick Solomos, of Greek descent, became the face of one of Australia’s most recognized budget gym chains. Derrimut 24:7 Gym was started by Nikolaos Solomos, who opened the company with one 500-square-metre gym in the outer-west of Melbourne and expanded into a fitness empire with over 25 gyms across Victoria and South Australia. His story is one of true ambition, a talent for building brands, and a tumultuous last chapter that tested his business acumen as well as his personal mettle.
Solomos opened Derrimut 24:7 Gym in 2010, after the suburb where the first outlet opened, some 17 kilometers west of Melbourne’s central business district. His model was simple and intentionally disruptive: big-format facilities, 24/7 access, and ultra-low-cost memberships, all designed to make fitness accessible to a demographic that larger, more expensive chains had missed. It succeeded.
The chain continued to expand to what was the equivalent of about 60 times the size of that original facility, with locations spread across greater Melbourne and into South Australia. At its peak, Derrimut employed around 800 people and had hundreds of thousands of members.
The atmosphere Solomos created within each gym is what set the Derrimut brand apart from its price point. He cared a lot about the atmosphere – the music, the flooring, the layout of the equipment – to create a high-energy experience that felt energizing the moment a member walked in. Diversified offerings well beyond traditional weightlifting.
The chain’s ecosystem expanded to incorporate boxing classes, basketball courts and reform Pilates to attract a broader and younger membership. Solomos was known for setting ambitious expansion targets, with a long-standing aim to operate 300 gyms in the future acting as a north star for the organization.
His public persona went further than the gym floor. Solomos was active on social media, posting about his business journey as well as a well-documented passion for luxury vehicles, helping him build a personal brand that fit the high-energy identity of the chain he operated. He also survived an event in 2015 that would define him in another way in the public eye.
He was parked outside his home in Burnside, in Melbourne’s outer west, when an unknown assailant opened fire on his car with three shots through the window. The attack was later revealed to be orchestrated by rival gym owners connected to bikies. Kevin Le, the driver of the car used in the attack, was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to three years in prison.
The biggest challenge of his business career came in 2025 when the Australian Taxation Office took legal action over alleged debts of more than $11 million. The chain also ran up debts to landlords, suppliers and other creditors, with total liabilities estimated at close to $30 million. Solomos said in November 2025 he was putting the biggest company in his gym group into voluntary administration, describing it as a ‘proactive’ move to restructure and save jobs.
Billionaire businessman Adrian Portelli had been in brief talks as a possible rescuer before pulling out. “More than 10 parties subsequently registered expressions of interest with the administrator and the future of the chain remains the subject of ongoing proceedings.” Whatever the result, Nick Solomos has left behind a fitness brand that reinvented the way Australians view accessible, high-energy gym culture.
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