A gym chain backed by Rishi Sunak’s wife is on the verge of collapse after suffering “extraordinary” challenges during successive lockdowns.

Digme Fitness, in which the Chancellor’s wife Akshata Murthy holds a 4.2pc stake, has filed a notice of its intention to appoint administrators after failing to relaunch itself as an online business in the pandemic.

The company has also hired Shoosmiths, the law firm, to advise on a restructuring. The court filing will protect Digme Fitness from its creditors for 14 days.

Digme’s sites in London have been hit by a decline in office working during the pandemic, with its sites in the capital concentrated in city centre locations. Digme has eight gyms, some of which are also in Oxford. 

The gym chain tried to offset the steep drop in footfall from office workers by offering online classes and renting out exercise bikes to customers through a subscription model.

The Chancellor has been a vocal advocate of office working, telling younger people that it is “really important” to return to the workplace and that video conferencing is no substitute.

Ms Murthy, who is also a director at Digme, is one of the richest women in Britain through her shareholding in her father’s tech firm Infosys which is reportedly worth £430m.

Narayana Murthy, co-founded Infosys in 1981 and is now one of the richest men in India with a net worth of £3.2bn, according to Forbes.

Digme was set up in 2015 by husband and wife team Caoimhe and Geoff Bamber just as indoor spinning studios were just taking off in London.

Ms Bamber previously spent more than a decade practising law in the City, and Mr Bamber was a fund manager. 

Digme’s early investors included West Hill Capital, which also backed Metro Bank.

Its studios host competitive spinning classes with live indoor leaderboards that rank participants, counting former rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio among its customers before the pandemic.

In its most recent accounts, Digme outlined the financial pressures facing the business.

The company said: “As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 has become an extraordinary challenge for us. Our team has shown incredible determination and motivation to weather the storm.

“The company has taken advantage of the crisis and made a rapid strategic pivot to become an omnichannel fit-tech business.”

Insolvency practitioners expect a wave of company collapses this year as government support measures in place at the height of the pandemic fall away.

The number of insolvencies has remained low during the pandemic after taxpayers supported companies with the furlough scheme and guaranteed loans.

Digme did not respond to a request for comment. Shoosmiths declined to comment.