What Harlands Group does

Harlands Group (legal entity: Harlands Services Ltd) is a UK-based payment services provider founded in 1998 that specialises in Direct Debit processing and revenue collection for health and fitness operators across the private, public, and education sectors. The company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (registration number 779275) and holds BACS accreditation, processing millions of Direct Debit payments monthly on behalf of leisure facilities in two collection windows each month (payments made on the 7th and 20th). Its product suite comprises the core Direct Debit processing service, the SNAP online member sign-up portal (integrated with more than 15 membership software providers), the Payflex 24/7 member self-service portal, the Client Login and DDMS portals for business clients, and Clubline, a member services contact centre handling queries, freezes, cancellations, and bulk amendments.

Harlands operates a B2B transaction-fee revenue model with quote-based enterprise pricing, and is a subsidiary of Xplor Technologies, the global platform integrating software, payments, and commerce-enabling services, alongside sister UK solutions Legend, Debit Finance (DFC), and Xplor Gym Management Software. Named enterprise customers include The Gym, Places Leisure, Marriott, Freedom Leisure, BPL, and Anytime Fitness. The company is registered in England and Wales (Registered Number 2982925), VAT-registered in the UK, headquartered at 1st Floor, Central Square South, Orchard Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, and operates with 51-100 employees. Harlands positions its differentiators as deep health-and-fitness domain knowledge, regulatory authorisation, BACS accreditation, broad membership-software integration coverage, and a dedicated member services operation.

Name

Harlands Group

Legal name

Harlands Services Ltd

Website

https://harlandsgroup.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Harlands Group is a UK-based, FCA-authorized Direct Debit payment processor serving health and fitness operators across private, public, and education sectors, offering member sign-up, self-service, and collections tooling as a subsidiary of Xplor Technologies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Services

NAICS

Collection Agencies (56144)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Direct Debit / ACH Collections & Recurring Billing (FSAMAGAE)

Keywords

• Direct Debit processing
• Membership payment services
• Health club billing
• Payment services platform
• Membership management software

Headquarters

HQ city

Haywards Heath

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Direct Debit Payment Processing: Harlands processes Direct Debit payments on behalf of leisure facilities. Revenue is generated through payment processing fees charged to health and fitness operators for managing membership collections. Two collection periods each month with payments made on the 20th (for 1st-15th collections) and 7th (for 16th-31st collections).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Harlands Group provides full-service Direct Debit payment processing and membership payment management for health and fitness operators across the UK private, public, and education sectors. Its offering combines Direct Debit collections, a member self-service portal (Payflex), an embeddable online signup portal (SNAP), a client management portal, and a dedicated member services contact center, with collections processed on two scheduled runs per month.

Product overview

Harlands Group is a single unified payment services platform offering end-to-end Direct Debit processing and membership management for health and fitness operators. The core Harlands Group product provides full-service revenue collection with dedicated member services center, supplemented by multiple integrated sub-products: Payflex (self-service member payment portal), SNAP (online member signup portal with 15+ software integrations), Client Login Portal (business account management), DDMS Portal (Direct Debit management system), and Clubline (member services contact center). All offerings operate together as a cohesive membership payments ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Harlands Group Direct Debit Processing Service Full-service Direct Debit revenue collection service processing millions of Direct Debit payments monthly on behalf of UK health and fitness operators across private, public, and education sectors. Includes member services, payment processing, and flexible joining technology, with two scheduled collection runs per month.
• Payflex Member Self-Service Portal
• SNAP Online Member Sign-Up Portal
• Client Login Portal
• DDMS Direct Debit Management Portal
• Clubline Member Services Contact Centre

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Xplor TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerXplor is the parent company of Harlands Group, described as 'the first global platform integrating software, payments, and commerce-enabling services to help businesses thrive.' Harlands is brought to market as a Xplor solution.
• 15+ Membership Software ProviderscoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnerships with over 15 membership software providers, enabling flexible joining technology and custom implementation options for clients.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• GoCardless: UK-headquartered Direct Debit and recurring billing platform that processes payments for subscription businesses. Direct competitor in UK Direct Debit collection and recurring billing, although GoCardless serves a much broader set of verticals than Harlands' fitness focus.
• SmartDebit (Avalara): UK-based BACS-approved Direct Debit bureau providing payment collection and processing services to businesses. Closely comparable to Harlands' Direct Debit processing model and target SMB/mid-market client base in the UK.
• Eazy Collect: UK Direct Debit bureau offering outsourced payment collection, automated billing, and member management. Comparable in product scope (Direct Debit collections + member self-service) and target market (UK subscription/membership businesses).
• Debit Finance (DFC): UK Direct Debit collection bureau serving membership-based businesses; another Xplor Technologies UK solution. Highly comparable business model (Direct Debit collections for membership organizations) and overlapping customer base with Harlands.
• Legend Club Management Systems: UK club and leisure management software provider; sister Xplor Technologies solution alongside Harlands. Closely comparable in target market (UK health & leisure operators) and complementary in product scope (management software vs. payment processing).

Broad incumbents

• Worldpay: Large UK-headquartered global payment processor offering card acquiring and recurring billing solutions. Competitor for payment processing relationships with UK fitness and leisure operators, albeit at much greater scale and breadth.
• Stripe: Global payments platform with Stripe Billing for recurring/subscription billing. Increasingly competes with niche Direct Debit players like Harlands by offering recurring billing infrastructure to UK subscription and SaaS businesses.
• Access PaySuite (Pay360): UK payment processing and bureau services provider part of The Access Group, offering Direct Debit, card, and online payments to multiple verticals. Larger and broader incumbent that overlaps with Harlands in Direct Debit collections and payment services.

Emerging players

• ABC Fitness Solutions: Vertical SaaS platform for the fitness industry (club management, billing, payments) with significant UK and global presence. Relevant because it embeds payment processing into fitness operator software, competing with Harlands for the operator payments wallet.
• Glofox (ABC Fitness): Boutique/studio fitness management software with integrated payments and member billing. Comparable because it offers end-to-end member signup, billing, and payment functionality targeting fitness operators — a competitive overlap with Harlands' full-service model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harlands Group