NEW OPENING
high-end club. Peacock agrees: “We’re not vanilla – we’re rum and raisin. We won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but those who do like us, love us.” Indeed, the club has already reached 3,000 members on word-of-mouth alone. Nowhere is the ‘rum and raisin’
approach more evident than in the predominantly Technogym-equipped first floor gym, with its black and red colour scheme and emphasis on audio-visual – massive screens, a jukebox for members to select their own music, Livestrong bikes with MyRide, and a separate cinema room equipped with 40 cross-trainers and bikes that shows a different film each day, as well as big sporting events. The whole space has huge energy, while each of the three studios has been designed to create a different mood, from tranquil – with views out over the surrounding land – to bright and buzzing in the Livestrong cycling studio. “It’s a great gym, and pretty much
it’s what gymBUG will look like,” says Peacock as he shows me round. “The only real difference is that at gymBUG, the gym will be our sole focus. We won’t have the restaurant, coffee bar, spa, pool, tennis courts and so on to worry about. We won’t even have studios other than our 25-bike Livestrong cycling studio – all our other group exercise will be delivered on the gym floor. “But the gym itself will be amazing, and not just compared to other budget clubs. Membership might cost just £14.99 a
month, but there’s been no compromise on the concept. For us, low-cost doesn’t mean low budget. We’ve invested in things that will deliver a wow factor – we’ll spend extra on those elements – and then used our cost-saving expertise behind the scenes, on things that won’t affect the member experience. The gym will also be well staffed at all times, including using PTs and apprentices. “We don’t just want to be good, in
brackets ‘for the price’. We want to be good, full stop. If we can’t be the best in town at any particular element of our offering, we won’t offer it at all.”
GOING BUDGET But why, given the success of Hale and the ongoing success of FX Leisure – as well as Taylor’s very open acknowledgement of his contentment with the status quo – did they decide to dip a toe in the low-cost market in the first place? “We thought about going into budget
clubs years ago, but knew we’d need to expand rapidly to succeed in that segment. We chose instead to focus on what we were already doing very well,” says Taylor. “But then Alun approached us and was also looking at low-cost. We decided the time was right and entered into an equal partnership – me, Andy and Alun – to launch gymBUG, with a leasehold model that means we can move quickly and expand rapidly.” Peacock adds: “But the sites have to be perfect – it took us 18 months to
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High-end: The Hale club includes a rooftop spa, with steamrooms, saunas, pool and treatment rooms
find this one in St Helens. You need the right demographics, the right rental price, allocated car parking, high visibility. And if you get all that…. We’ve already smashed our pre-opening business plan. “Ideally I’d have liked the site to be 20–30 per cent bigger, but we’re fitting a lot in: 140 stations, cycling studio, zones for functional training, free weights and core/stretching, great changing rooms. And we only need to hit a capacity of 3,000–4,000 members.”
A BOLD VISION So what are the plans going forward? While Hale could be repeated “if the opportunity were to arise”, gymBUG is the focus for both Peacock and Taylor over the next 12 months, as Peacock explains: “Of course the appetite will be swayed by the success of the first few clubs. However, the aim at the moment is to open at least 10 sites in three years, all in the north-west for now. “The biggest challenge is our ‘no
compromise’ approach on location. We’re bold in our vision for the brand: being the best gym in the area, perceived as a star rating above our price point. But location is the one thing we’re not in charge of. Once we have the site, though, we know we can create a gym we’d all want to work out in.” l
November/December © cybertrek 2012
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