HOTSEAT NICK COUTTS’ BIO Each club will have three fi tness studios and areas for personal training work
Who are your target customers? When you’re looking to recruit up to 4,000 members, you can’t just appeal to regular exercisers, you need to attract those who have never considered joining a club before. The brand is targeted primarily at a younger age group –
around the 25-35-year-old range. For instance, we’ll have a DJ pod in the gym area, with live sessions once a week where DJs can practise their sets and entertain members. The social element of clubs is very strong in Portugal and club parties are always very well attended.
What are you looking for in potential sites? We look for attractive, modern buildings in areas of dense population. Parking needs to be good and it should also be easy to walk to. We want one to two fl oors, lots of natural light and good ceiling heights. Because of the economy, we’re able to negotiate much
more attractive shell rents. Overall we’ll be spending around €1.5 million on each club fi t-out and equipment.
How are you marketing Fitness Hut? We’ve hired a corporate sales team to present the product to large companies. We’re on social media and currently promoting Fitness Hut in two large shopping centres where people can join on the spot. We’re selling them an unknown product, so we’re offering a money-back guarantee if it does not live up to their expectations after a few visits. Our pricing is very fl exible – people can pay two weeks at a time and cancel with a week’s notice. Basic membership will be around €6.6 per week, but with add-ons an average membership will be around €28-30 a month.
How do you see the wider fitness market evolving? The consensus is the market will continue to polarise. Either you are high end, budget end, or you’re niche. Those clubs stuck in the middle will struggle in the years to come. There’s a big splurge and dynamic expansion going on in
28 Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital
1991 Graduated from Birmingham University with a degree in Sports Science 1994 Club manager of the fi rst Holmes Place club in Fulham Road, Chelsea 1996 Based in Portugal to set up the fi rst HP club 1997–2003 Area director of HP Iberian business and some HP UK clubs 2003 Promoted to HP European managing director and moved family to Lisbon 2005 Led HP Iberia management buy-out October 2010 Left HP to set up Fitness Hut October 2011 First FH club due to open, with two more by end 2011
the UK at the moment, and the men will be sorted from the boys. But I do feel that the brands trading solely on price are not going to make it long term.
Any sights on international expansion? Spain will be next, starting next year – and Brazil would be another logical step. If a concept has done well in Portugal it usually makes for easier fi nancing in Brazil. The fi tness market there is currently hugely overpriced – but rents, build costs and taxes are also high. However in terms of poten- tial, São Paulo alone is a vast market. After that we might consider the UK and Europe.
What was the scariest part of starting out on your own?
I’d obviously been with Holmes Place for most of my career and was used to taking a regular salary. When I left I soon realised that if I didn’t get out of bed in the morning nothing was going to happen!
But when I look back I’m amazed at how much has been achieved in just a year – from developing the concept, to getting bank fi nance and opening the fi rst site.
And what’s the best part? It’s great to feel liberated and empowered and work with people you want to work with. We’ve shaken off our old stresses, but of course there will be new challenges to come. Andre, JP and I know each other well enough to talk directly, challenge each other’s ideas, and not go off in a huff if we disagree.
The Portuguese economy is in a bad way - are you optimistic about the future? It is tough and there have been lots of business closures – but I really believe we’ve created a concept that’s right for now – and we’re not just going to survive in this economy, but really thrive. ●
ISSUE 4 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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