editor’s letter
Subscriptions
Julie Albone
+44 (0)1462 471915
Circulation Manager
Michael Emmerson
+44 (0)1462 471932
Editor
Liz Terry
+44 (0)1462 431385
Managing Editor
Kate Cracknell
+44 (0)1462 471906
Assistant Editor
Katie Barnes
+44 (0)1462 471925
News Desk
Pete Hayman
+44 (0)1462 471938
Martin Nash
+44 (0)1462 471933
Sarah Todd
+44 (0)1462 471927
Tom Walker
+44 (0)1462 471934
Products Editor
Sarah Todd
+44 (0)1462 471927
Designers
Andy Bundy
+44 (0)1462 471924
Ed Gallagher
+44 (0)1905 20198
Claire Toplis
+44 (0)1462 471910
Website Team
Katie Eldridge
+44 (0)1462 471913
Dean Fox
+44 (0)1462 471900
Emma Harris
+44 (0)1462 471921
Tim Nash
+44 (0)1462 471917
Michael Paramore
+44 (0)1462 471926
Publisher
Jan Williams
+44 (0)1462 471909
Sales
Julie Badrick
+44 (0)1462 471919
John Challinor
+44 (0)1582 607970
Stephanie Rogers
+44 (0)1462 471906
Astrid Ros
+44 (0)1462 471911
Financial Controller
Sue Davis
+44 (0)1395 519398
EXTERNAL INSTRUCTORS
Financial Administrator
Denise Gildea
+44 (0)1462 471930
Credit Controller
Rebekah Scott
+44 (0)1462 733477
june 2010 © cybertrek 2010
a warm welcome
Should club reception be staffed or automated?
hanging in there
With 2009 being a year from hell for most UK businesses, we’ve been waiting to see how the fitness industry has been faring. Anecdotal evidence suggests trading has been reasonable
enough and that the industry has avoided the massive drops in performance that some sectors have experienced. Now new
data from the 2010 FIA State of the UK Fitness Industry report
– carried out by The Leisure Database Company for the Fitness Industry Association – shows that the sector continued to grow in terms of both new facility openings and total membership numbers in the 12 months to 31 March 2010. And this in the face of a decline in GDP for the UK as a whole of 4.9 per cent in 2009. A full report is available from The Leisure Database Company, but headline figures show that 58 new
public and 64 new private sector gyms opened during the period; multi-site operators accounted for 62 per cent of the private sector openings. This brings the total number of facilities being logged and monitored by the survey to 5,885 – thought to be all the clubs in the UK. There’s no indication yet of how many of these additional clubs were new- build projects and how many were fit-outs. In a year when most businesses in the UK
The value of the industry in terms of turnover was up by 0.9 per cent to £3.8bn during the year, making this the 10th consecutive year of growth for the sector
saw shrinkage in their customer base, the number of gym members actually grew by just under half a per cent to 7.4 million. We don’t yet know the turnover within this number in terms of lapsed and new members, but to grow the total through such a tumultuous year is an outstanding achievement for the sector. Digging into the figures, this means
the number of facilities grew by 1.6 per cent, while the number of people using them grew by only 0.4 per cent. Although there’s no indication at this time whether the growth in membership was in the newer clubs or whether existing operations enjoyed this increase, it does indicate a growth in capacity that has not yet been exploited. The value of the industry in terms of turnover also increased and was up by 0.9 per cent to £3.8bn
during the year, making this the 10th consecutive year of growth for the sector. However, although we’re logging the percentage of the population currently holding gym membership
(12 per cent), we’re not keeping such a close eye on the ever increasing number who used to belong but have lapsed. Tracking these would give us a truer picture of the growth potential of the market. In presenting the headline figures, David Minton, director of The Leisure Database Company,
commented: “The ongoing investment by consumers in their health, despite difficult economic times, provides a solid platform that all operators can leverage as the economic recovery builds.” It will be very interesting to see the full breakdown of the numbers – most importantly, we need to
understand how the situation changed throughout the year and where the lowest point in trading occurred. Although we can anticipate an increase in members and improved trading if the economy does continue to recover, cuts in the public sector may slow the growth of facility development in the next few years, throwing an increased focus on optimisation.
Liz Terry, editor email:
healthclub@leisuremedia.com
health club
management
30
PETER ROBERTS
SPORTS
MANAGEMENT
SURREY SPORTS PARK
Sporting excellence for Surrey University
Fiona Reynolds
The iconic venues of the future
RICHARD LEWIS
The chair of Sport England on the power of sport
British Gymnastics embraces the sport’s success
Stockholm
FlOW HOUSE BRINGING THE SURF TO BEDFORD
NEWS AND JOBS UPDATED DAILY ON THE INTERNET
leisureopportunities.co.uk
CONTACT US The Leisure Media Company Ltd, Portmill House, Portmill Lane, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG5 1DJ UK
SUBS Tel: +44 (0)1462 471915
Fax: +44 (0)1462 433909
© Cybertrek Ltd 2010 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 3
VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC
FRONT COVER: WWW.ISTOCK.COM/ALIJA
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