INTERVIEW
Treatments at the Refresh spa are ‘as affordable as possible’
to creating a culture of physical activity generally across the city of Glasgow, whether that’s getting people into our gyms, our sports facilities, our outdoor boot camps, our volunteer-led city walks, or indeed into someone else’s community sports club.” The Emirates Arena also offers a
full day spa offering Elemis and Murad treatments – a fi rst for Glasgow Life. Operating under the Refresh brand, it is, hopes Garrett, a concept that will be rolled out to more sites. So how has a luxury spa concept gone down in what he’s already acknowledged is a community facing tough social challenges? “Very well actually. I think people’s perception of spa is changing – it’s a fast-growing part of the overall industry – and we’ve created this in response to customer demand. We’ve always offered steamrooms, saunas and so on, so really this is evolution rather than revolution.” The spa has been made “as affordable as possible” – for example, a 50-minute, full-body massage costs £45 (Glasgow Club members receive discounts) while spa membership, giving unlimited access to the heat experiences, costs around £25 a month. But, says Garrett: “It’s still a touch of luxury. Why shouldn’t people here have access to that though?” He adds: “From our perspective, spa
also offers the possibility of bringing in new people to our facilities. The biggest challenge is always to get new customers – it’s then down to us to signpost new pathways to get them engaged in other aspects of our offering.”
Towards a revolution It’s in the face of this challenge – breaking into new markets – that Glasgow Life’s diversity really comes to the fore. “There are a number of ways people come across us,” explains Garrett. “We might build a new sports facility in their area,
Reaching out to the grey market: Functional training at the Bellahouston club
of course, and we have a strong focus on our Glasgow Club brand through marketing and PR. We’re easily the biggest sports and fi tness operator in Glasgow, and therefore arguably enjoy greater visibility than other public sector operators might do in their respective catchment areas. “Being part of a large cultural association also means we have the opportunity to talk to customers using our libraries and arts centres, for example. Some libraries are actually incorporated into our leisure centres, but even where that’s not the case, we’re able to pool our resources to try and engage prospective new members. “We also do a lot of community
outreach work, including partnership projects with the NHS Health Board and the Glasgow Housing Association, for example. For me, if we’re going to take the sector beyond the 12 per cent penetration at which we’ve been stuck for years – if we really want to make a breakthrough to a wider population base – we need to do things very differently, and partnerships will be key to that. “Other sectors such as retail and the media have experienced genuine
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revolution over recent years, but the physical activity sector is more or less doing things as it’s always done. What’s going to be our revolution? I believe we could make a huge impact on the public health agenda, for example, but we’re currently only scratching the surface. “As a sector, we must think beyond the bricks and mortar of our facilities. We can’t expect people to come to us: we have to take our offering to other locations in the community, going out to where the people we want to reach actually are. We have to use new technology to move beyond our centres and into people’s everyday lives. Partnership work is key.”
Partnership programmes Garrett continues: “We’ve established a very close partnership with the NHS Health Board, setting up programmes designed to help prevent disease and reduce the cost to the NHS of treatment further down the line. Initiatives include our GP referral scheme, our Vitality programme – classes that have been designed to be suitable for people with a range of physical abilities and medical conditions – and weight-loss scheme
February 2013 © Cybertrek 2013
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SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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