Q&A
HEALTH CLUB SPA
EMMA DIXON
The national spa manager for HeavenV, Virgin Active’s in-club spa brand, talks to Kate Cracknell about treating others as you’d want to be treated yourself
How long have you been with HeavenV, and what’s your role with the company? I joined Holmes Place Health Clubs in February 2006 and transferred over to Virgin Active as a result of the acquisition in November 2006. My role is national spa manager, overseeing 26 in-house HeavenV spas and 14 spa concessions.
What’s your professional background? I trained as a beauty therapist in the mid-80s and worked in Mayfair for the first few years of my career. I then went to work for Steiner on cruise ships and spent three years working and travelling overseas. On my return to the UK, I joined a health club company that
eventually became Esporta and spent the next 11 years working my way up from a beauty therapist, through general manager of health clubs, to the national spa manager of 40 spas. My time with Esporta was fantastic and the management training was invaluable. They encouraged you to learn and take responsibility for the complete operation, from sales to cost control, from health and safety to the specialist areas of the business. Most importantly, they showed us that the people within the business were the most important asset and that, without their support and commitment, success was almost impossible to achieve. After leaving Esporta I had a brief stint with ESPA and then
rejoined the health club business, which is my passion. With Virgin Active, I have my dream job: marrying health and fi tness with the amazing business of spa and beauty.
HeavenV spas vary in size from two to 10 treatment rooms, but most have around fi ve rooms
When did Virgin Active launch HeavenV? In 2006, initially with 11 businesses, growing to 26 with the acquisition of the Holmes Place group. All of our spas are located within a Virgin Active Health Club, but every spa is budgeted to make a profit and we have separate P&L reports just for the spa department.
What’s the HeavenV concept? HeavenV very much embraces the core values of Virgin Active: excellent customer care, great value for money, challenging the norm and having fun. However, our spa business operates at a different pace from what you would expect in a busy gym; we strive to create a feeling of calm within the spas and encourage our clients to ‘let go’ for the time they are with us. We pride ourselves on offering an amazing client experience
at a very competitive price, based on the belief that great customer service costs us nothing – it’s about having the right attitude and the desire to make someone feel really special. Our golden rule is to treat others as we would wish to be treated ourselves, and this applies to both clients and our colleagues.
What facilities are on offer? Our spas vary in size from two to 10 treatment rooms, but most have around five rooms. Many of our spas are attached to the pool area of the club, where we also have saunas, steam rooms and spa pools. That allows us to offer spa day packages for both members and non-members. Our fastest-growing service is spa days, where clients can
visit us for a few hours or a full day if they wish. They can use all of the health club facilities or simply relax in the treatment area.
What are HeavenV’s USPs? The facilities at Virgin Active clubs are fantastic, so clients can enjoy a full day spa experience in some of the best gyms in the UK. We have an amazing team of therapists who really enjoy what they do. Most of our spa locations have free car parking
– excluding central London – so offer very easy access. And we have crèche facilities, so clients with young children can take time out knowing their little ones are safe, happy and close by. Unlike many other providers of spa days, clients do not pay
a high fee for using the spa facilities (around £10 for non- members and free for members), so most of the money spent is on actual treatments. The prices for our spa treatments are also excellent value for money. And clients have the option to upgrade their pre-booked treatments on the day – assuming we have available slots – and can also enjoy a 10 per cent discount on any additional treatments they may decide to have.
66 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital may 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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