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heALTh & FiTness


New-look corporate gym for JCB World HQ


A gym at the JCB World Headquarters in Staffordshire has reopened to employees aſter benefiting from a revamp undertaken in partnership with Life Fitness. Te Healthy Living Centre, which first


opened 15 years ago, has been modernised and now features a 45-station fitness suite offering cv and strength equipment. JCB World’s new-look gym also features


Life Fitness’ Virtual Trainer technology to assist in rehabilitation and physiotherapy, allowing staff to track their exercise prog- ress. A spinning studio is also on offer.


LA Fitness in Twitter climbdown


UK health club operator LA Fitness has agreed to waive the membership contract of a heavily pregnant woman and her out-of-work husband, following concerted pressure from social media users and the Guardian newspaper. Te lady – formerly a mem-


ber at LA Fitness’ Billericay club – wrote to the newspa- per’s Consumer Champions column last month to com- plain she had been unable to cancel her and her husband’s 24-month contracts – leaving them liable to pay £780. A ‘drastic’ change in the couple’s circum-


LA Fitness has now backed down due to a strong social media backlash


stances, along with being forced to move 12 miles from the Billericay club, prompted the need to cancel their contracts. LA Fitness was contacted by the Guardian


aſter it took up the issue, with the operator- agreeing to a compromise and said it would


Holohan Architects designed the leisure complex


New leisure centre for County Wexford town


Work will start this month (February) on a new leisure centre in New Ross, Ireland. New Ross Town Council and contractor


Mythen Construction have exchanged the contracts for the scheme, which has been designed by Holohan Architects. Te new two-storey centre will include


a six-lane, 25m swimming pool; a learner pool; and a separate children’s pool. A health suite with steamroom, sauna


and relaxation area will be located on the first floor, while a fitness gym and a group exercise studio will occupy the second.


Nuffield Health acquires Greens Health and Fitness


Nuffield Health has announced the acquisi- tion of Greens Health and Fitness, a chain of 15 fitness centres from De Vere Group. Te deal will see Nuffield’s overall mem-


bership increase to around 300,000 across 66 consumer and 200 corporate sites, which makes it the UK’s sixth largest provider of fitness and wellbeing services. Te deal is the third major acquisition for


Nuffield Health in recent years. It took over Bladerunner corporate fitness in 2010 and Cannons gyms three years prior to that. Read more: http://lei.sr?a=T6Q4e


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only charge the couple a further six months of the contract – a sum of £360. However, Guardian readers used social


media platforms – particularly Twitter – to publicise the plight of the couple, with LA Fitness coming under severe attack for its stance. Read more: http://lei.sr?a=P0i3h


OFT to probe fairness of gym contracts


The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has opened an official investigation into whether health club operators are in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations Act 1999. As part of the probe, the


OFT will also look at whether operators are engaging in any unfair business practices under the 2008 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act. Te latest investigation fol-


lows the enforcement order successfully secured by the OFT from the High Court last August against Ashbourne Management Services, a gym mem- bership management company. Following the ruling, the OFT issued a warning advising other gyms to check their


Te FIA said it is “happy to play an advisory role in this investigation”


contract terms to ensure they were not using similar unfair terms or business practices. It now appears that the problem will be


investigated in a wider context, although the probe is currently at an early stage.


1610 secures £1.4m Torridge leisure contract


Somerset-based leisure trust 1610 has been awarded a £1.4m contract by Torridge District Council to run its leisure facilities for the next decade, with effect from 1 February. Te not-for-profit organisation, which was formerly known as Somerset Leisure, currently


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


manages 13 centres throughout the county and will add a further four to its portfolio. Torrington Pool; Torridge Pool in Bideford;


Holsworthy Leisure Centre; and Torrington Sprots Hall and Artificial Turf Pitch are the venues to now be operated by 1610.


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2012


image: candybox images/shutterstock.com


image: monkey business images/shutterstock.com


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