INTERVIEW
ANASTASIA YUSINA
THE PRESIDENT OF STRATA PARTNERS TALKS TO KATE CRACKNELL ABOUT MEDICAL FITNESS, AND DRIVING PROFITABILITY THROUGH PERSONALISATION
can be proud of,” says Anastasia Yusina, president of Russia-based health club operator Strata Partners. “We started out with no money and built this business from scratch. Now the estate has grown and external investors are involved, but I still feel very personally involved and it’s hard to feel you can’t control everything. I still want to make decisions I feel are right ethically as much as fi nancially, taking the business in a direction I can feel proud of.” She continues: “For me, money isn’t
“I
the only thing in life, and my decisions aren’t always purely commercial. I believe we have to deliver on our promises to our members, both in terms of the quality of our facilities but also, more importantly, in terms of results – even if that doesn’t immediately mean more profi t. And sometimes that can create issues with external investors.
t’s a permanent challenge to strike a balance between fi nancial imperatives and creating good clubs you
“But for me, particularly in this industry,
you have to be passionate about what you do. Fitness isn’t just an investment project. I can see the opportunity in budget clubs, for example – there may even be more money to be made in that market segment – but it doesn’t interest me. Getting results for people is what I care about, and to do that you need to supervise your members, with higher levels of staff-member interaction.” Both of the brands Yusina oversees
are therefore full-service models – the higher-end Orange Fitness, which offers a broader range of facilities including swimming pools, and mass market City Fitness – although neither are at the luxury end of the market. “The very high- end sector is limited in its capacity here. People tend to have their own gyms in their houses, with personal trainers making home visits,” she explains.
Hands-on, hands-off A journalist by training – she previously worked as a sports journalist in Russia
and a fi nancial journalist in Paris – Yusina then moved to a research company, followed by 10 years in marketing. But she had always been interested in sports and fi tness, having herself been a professional cyclist, and in 2000 decided to launch a fi tness consultancy business in partnership with her husband Alexey Kashirin, who had previously worked for the World Class and Gold’s Gym chains. The launch of the couple’s fi rst health club – the inaugural City Fitness facility – came in December 2001, with the fi rst Orange Fitness site opening as a franchise in March 2002. “Although we do now own some Orange Fitness clubs ourselves, we had to launch it as a franchise originally because the model needs more investment, and we didn’t have any money at the beginning,” says Yusina. In 2006, they sold shares to an international investment fund, but ultimately bought these back when the fund was looking to sell. “We just weren’t ready to sell the business,” explains Yusina.
Club within a club: The company has launched a medical fi tness concept which allows members access to doctors 30 Take part in the Health Club Management reader survey:
www.surveymonkey.com/s/NQDN2R6 November/December 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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