interview
Focus: A budget club venture is not on the radar for DLL, which will stick to its premium, family brand, driving “long-term sustainability”
also have an immediate impact on the bottom line – DL Kids and All Stars, for example, run over two million sessions a year, from kids’ parties and summer camps to tennis and swimming lessons.
“That represents signifi cant business,” says Lloyd. “The diversity of our revenue streams is something that the budget gyms, for example, just don’t have.” Indeed, such is the success of the
DL Kids brand that it is now being introduced at the Barcelona club – the fi rst time the concept has been launched outside of the UK. One interesting new venture has been
the launch of a sports medicine offering, with a clinic already introduced in the Raynes Park club. “Sports medicine and physiotherapy is something our members need, so we want to be able to deliver this for them. We’re not saying we’re medical providers, but our members do see us as a trusted brand with a great level of expertise in a number of areas; our aim is therefore to expand our portfolio of products, further enhancing our service and meeting our members’ needs. “The Raynes Park clinic is operated
as a joint venture with Pure Sports Medicine and it’s doing very well; we’ll roll this model out in up to 12 sites across our portfolio. Across the rest of our estate, we’ll develop our own DL Physiotherapy product – already operating in four of our clubs – employing qualifi ed physiotherapists but training them in our brand standards and the DLL way of doing things. “The great thing about DLL is that,
with our extensive facilities and the land we have available to us, we’re able to continually evolve our offering and take market share in new product areas.”
building communities Connecting with members is also key to the future of the business, says Lloyd, referencing DLL’s recent deal with
Triathlon England, Scotland and Wales to introduce triathlon clubs in its facilities. “Over the years, there’s been a fallacy
that a health club’s best members are those who don’t actually use the club. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We spend a lot of time looking at new ways of engaging with our members, ideally to encourage them to visit every single day. That’s what our triathlon clubs are all about – creating a sense of belonging, as well as tapping into things our members are already interested in – but it won’t stop there. It’s about constantly fi nding new products, or enhancing our existing product, to develop the member experience. From looking at how our PT works, to introducing new small group training options such as ViPR classes, to creating distinct spaces on our gym fl oors such as functional training areas, it’s all about continually evolving the experience and engaging as many different people, in as many different ways, as possible. “We also aim to consistently improve
our communication, ensuring that our members feel valued. That can be as simple as greeting them individually, but
Consolidation will lead to further differentiation, with consumers more aware of where each brand lies
34 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
it’s also about trying to build a deeper understanding of what they want, so we can effectively communicate our products. “Developing the business online is key
to the sort of enhanced communication we’re trying to achieve, and it’s an area in which I feel the industry as a whole has been poor. Saying that, I’d acknowledge that DLL is perhaps best positioned to develop some of this thinking: our product is so multi-faceted that we always have a lot to talk to our members about. We’re developing our online tennis and gym communities, for example, allowing us to share our expertise wherever our members might be.”
a differentiated market So what does Lloyd see happening in the fitness industry as a whole over the next few years? “I think there’ll be further consolidation, and through that process the strongest brands will get both stronger and more differentiated in their offering and what they stand for: Nuffield and its medical positioning, for example; DLL representing the sport/health/family model; and the budget brands with their basic offering at the lowest possible cost. “As a result, it will become easier for
consumers to know what to expect of any given club. They will become more aware of where each brand lies, and where they therefore need to go to fi nd what they want.”
healthclub@leisuremedia.com kate cracknell
september 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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