The planned £330m refinancing of health and fitness club operator Esporta, has been delayed after the resignation last week of Neil Gillis and Michael Ball, the company’s chief executive and its finance director. The Times

Simon Halabi's Buckingham Securities, owner of Esporta, now looks an unlikely contender in the £900 million-plus auction of Whitbread’s David Lloyd Leisure chain, which appears to be a two-horse race between London & Regional and MidOcean Partners.

Gillis and Ball's departures came just as Société Générale, the French bank, was seeking to syndicate out £330m of debt funding it is estimated to have provided as part of the acquisition by Buckingham.

Buckingham bought Esporta in February for about £470m, outbidding London & Regional, the owner of Next Generation Clubs, and MidOcean Partners, which owns LA Fitness.