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jason matthews PEOPLE PROFILE
OPERATOR INDEPENDENT
Matthews owns the Ultimate Physiques gym in Castleford and recently received a commendation from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh for his work in the leisure sector
How many years have you worked in the health and fi tness industry? I’ve been running Ultimate Physiques with my wife, Donna, since 2002 – so nine years. Prior to that I was a fi tting inspector at a copperworks. But I used to be a competitive bodybuilder, so leaving the factory to start up a gym was a natural progression for me.
Could you describe the club? The club is divided into two: a mixed martial arts (MMA) centre and a more traditional health club. The MMA side offers an 18ft boxing ring and a large, padded group studio which can host jiu jitsu, judo, karate and aikido. On the gym side, we have 105 pieces of resistance kit, 40 CV stations and all the other stuff you’d fi nd in a typical gym.
What’s your typical day-to-day? I have part-time staff who come in during the morning, as well as later in the day, to cover while I do personal training with members. I also take care of the running of the club – banking, stock checks, ordering stock, making sure the staff know their roles for their shifts and so on. I work around 60 hours a week, but I have a day off every Sunday and I also try and keep Thursday and Friday nights free.
Any plans to open a second site? Not at this time. I have friends who run second clubs and they don’t seem to run a well as the fi rst ones. I think it’s
because they physically can’t be at both sites at the same time. It would also be tricky for me because any new club would have to be in a different fi eld – I certainly wouldn’t want to intrude on the area that I’m already working in, as all I’d be doing would be creating competition for myself.
How do you see the emergence of budget gyms affecting the sector? I think they will be a fl ash in the pan. I think these businesses have jumped on the idea that, in the current climate, most people won’t be able to pay £40 a month for a gym membership. They used that as a starting point and have gone to the extreme with their £100-a-year memberships. But I think they’ll be in trouble once they realise how much it actually costs to operate a gym and really take care of a member. I had a budget gym open close by and initially lost a few members to it, but they came back very quickly once they realised just how little they got for their money. Machines were down, the place wasn’t cleaned on a regular basis, etc.
Do you think there’s enough support for independent clubs? No, not at all – but it is getting better. People like Dave Wright have done great work, and his IOU initiative is a great scheme that should have been done 15 years ago. The way it introduces independent operators to large suppliers is a great help. That alone makes IOU a wonderful initiative. It’s a great forum for us all to come together and share ideas and practices.
What drives you? To be the best I can be, as well as working to create different bodies and shapes – sitting down with someone and being able to advise them on how to improve their fi tness.
Matthews receives his award from Prince Phillip july 2011 © cybertrek 2011
Favourite life motto or quote? It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
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