RESEARCH


Gender disparity: In the UK, more men than women work out at gyms


There could be an opportunity for a budget club format for families:


noted above regarding women’s higher levels of caution in fi nancial matters. Research fi ndings suggest that potential female users have a particular concern about committing to a contract with a club, only to fi nd they don’t like it or don’t use it as much as they thought they would. Additionally, women are notably


more likely than men to agree that they have, or would have, a hard time getting motivated to go to a club – but also that they would be more interested in using a health club if they had someone to work out with. This suggests some potential for developing memberships for people who work out together, such as a Best Friends deal or similar where, as long as they both visit together or each work out a certain number of times a month, they are entitled to a discounted rate. Visiting and working out together would help with motivation and improve retention rates.


‘Budget plus’ With a continued squeeze on incomes, affordability remains a significant barrier to more people joining health clubs at the moment. The current crop of budget clubs are addressing this issue pretty well and it’s hard to see how else the services they provide could be delivered for less money.


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memberships sold on a household basis The only other way would be to


‘disaggregate’ each aspect and specialise – as is the case with the emerging crop of microgym operators – or for more operators to offer ‘disaggregated’ memberships, so that if people just want to swim or to do classes, they pay only for that service and nothing else. Another area where there could be


potential would be a category of ‘budget plus’ clubs, where a slightly different positioning is adopted to broaden the appeal. There could, for example, be an opportunity for a budget club format to be developed with the aim of appealing primarily to the family market, with memberships sold on a per family or per household basis, entitling all members of a family to use the facilities and offering activities and classes which the whole family could do together. This could have the effect of establishing good (exercise) habits early on in the life of children, while at the same time ensuring that older family members look after their bodies as they grow older.


Exercise is medicine Overall, the industry has benefited from the growing ‘exercise is medicine’ trend, with people being prescribed physical activity as an alternative to drugs to combat diseases, illnesses and ailments. Many gym and leisure facility operators


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital


have launched dedicated programmes, along with specific memberships for those recovering from illness. In March 2012, cancer patients


at hospitals run by North Bristol NHS Trust were offered exercise classes to reduce the risk of the disease spreading or returning. The classes were devised by hospital physiotherapists for patients who had completed their medical course of treatment for cancer. Meanwhile, Aquaterra Leisure’s cancer survivorship programme is free to patients registered with an Islington GP. On completion of the 12-week plan, participants are entitled to a signifi cantly discounted membership at Aquaterra’s leisure centres. There is signifi cant opportunity for further growth in this medical arena.


Potential members Finally, the report looks at potential users. Future users of private health and


January 2014 © Cybertrek 2014


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