new
opening
“WITH A START-UP, YOU REALLY HAVE TO LIVE AND BREATHE YOUR OFFER TO ATTRACT AND KEEP MEMBERS”
training area – cables, free weights and plate-loaded stations rather than selectorised machines. The studios – one for pilates, yoga and conditioning sessions, the other a Keiser group cycling studio – are also to the right, and can be opened up to create one big studio. To the left, a 5x5m Protec boxing ring, battling ropes and tyre hammer sit alongside the 80sq m, sprung-fl oored dojo, which features punch bags all around the edges. Clean, modern changing rooms –
kitted out by Kemmlit and Ojmar – and the physio/beauty treatment room are behind the far wall of the gym, with additional smaller lockers on the gym fl oor for anyone not requiring full changing facilities. Beauty treatments are by Dermalogica and Essie Nails. A spiral stairway then leads up to
the mezzanine fl oor, which looks down over the gym and houses a martial arts Hexagon by Protec, a heavier Life Fitness resistance area and a CV fl oor featuring a wide range of equipment.
“We wanted to offer something a bit different,” explains Coates. So while the Concept2 rowers and Life Fitness CV kit are fairly standard, the gym also offers three Wattbikes, a Power Plate, a Versaclimber, a Marpo Kinetics grappling machine and a Freedom Climber from Revolutionary Products.
staffing matters Originally the brainchild of Parks, Coates came onboard to bring business expertise and financial backing to the
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Stars project; the multi-million pound club is all self-financed. There are now five directors, “all of whom are passionate about sport and want to share that enthusiasm with the members,” says Coates who, an endurance sport athlete himself, leads the club’s running sessions in neighbouring Battersea Park.
There are 50 classes on the club timetable – everything from pilates and group cycling to circuit training in the local park
signifi cantly. Small group personal training is also available: “If four participants split the £100 cost between them, training with a world champion becomes very affordable,” he says.
The timetable offers a 50 classes
“With a start-up, and particularly in this economic climate, you have to really live and breathe your offer to attract and keep members,” he adds. Perhaps testament to this enthusiasm
is the fact that the gym has already been approached by Men’s Health magazine to be the London sponsor of its ‘Survival of the Fittest’ challenge in November. “It’s a big compliment for a small brand like us,” says Coates. Stars employs 10 staff in a shift
pattern, alongside therapists and nutritionists working as contractors and personal trainers who – rather than paying rent – are called in only when needed and paid a set fee per session.
“We could cover a lot of running costs by renting out space, but we don’t feel that’s a good way to go about it,” says Coates. “We don’t want an atmosphere where PTs fi ght over clients.” One-to-one personal training costs
£65–£85 an hour, depending on the profi le of the trainer, and 15–20 per cent of members have already taken it up; Coates now aims to grow this
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a week – everything from pilates to circuit training in the park. Stars does not run Les Mills-type sessions, instead offering its instructors the freedom to use their own expertise in designing and varying the format. All martial arts training is run as PT or classes, with no more than 12 to 15 participants per session to maintain quality.
replicated roll-out So will there be more Stars Gyms? “In year one, we have to test the business model and see if it works,” says Coates.
“If it does, we’ll look to open more sites in London, but only if we’re confident we can repeat it to the same high standards. Opening one gym is hard; replicating that without diluting the brand is even harder, and a lot of brands in the fitness industry fall foul of that. “Assuming we do roll out, we want to
take our staff with us – our receptionist now might end up as HR director, for example. Ultimately, it’s people who make your business a success.”
healthclub@leisuremedia.com kate cracknell
november/december 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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