This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
budget clubs


New-build: The Gym Group’s club in Nottingham. The chain was the fi rst to build brand new budget clubs, in 2008


Battle o the budget clubs


What budget chains are out there, how much do they cost, what facilities do they offer and how do they differ? And what’s in store for the low-cost sector generally – which operations will last, which may fail, and what comes next? Jo Talbot investigates the ins and outs of the UK’s budget club boom


W


ith the rapid emergence of budget clubs in the UK over the last five years, the low-cost market is now well established and still growing, with easyGym due to open its first club within the


next few months. Over the page, we take a look at what exactly is out there right now and how the different offerings compare – including some pre-opening details from easyGym. But fi rst we talk to Ray Algar, the managing director of


Oxygen Consulting – who in 2010 published his UK Low-cost Gym Sector Report – to get his analysis of the sector and his predictions for its future.


Boom times: énergie’s Fit4less brand has 11 clubs, with 10 more planned


Q: Ray, what do you see happening in the UK budget club market at the moment? A: I see the private UK low-cost operators pursuing two distinct strategic paths: new-build clubs versus the conversion of


‘legacy’ clubs. In 2006, FitSpace launched the UK’s first truly low-cost gym by acquiring and converting an existing independent club in Bournemouth. In 2008, The Gym Group launched into the market based on a different strategy. Theirs was to exclusively focus on developing new gyms with no fitness history or ‘legacy’.


Ray Algar


Q: What do you think of the different offerings? A: I think some of the companies have a deep understanding around creating and delivering a remarkable low-cost gym experience. To me, this is about narrowing the ‘traditional’ club proposition so that what remains is a gym experience that consumers rave about. The ones that have it right are those that have thought through the entire member experience from website to workout. Some brands have created a beautifully simple proposition and it’s this simplicity that consumers find appealing, along with great value memberships.


Q: Which model do you think will last? Which will fail? A: Back in 2009, I was asked about industry predictions for 2010. I thought we would see the first low-cost business fail because I believed too many companies were rushing in, assuming it was just about serving up a low price. Nuyuu Fitness then failed at the end of last year, after missing


april 2011 © cybertrek 2011 Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 57


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84