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HEALTH & FITNESS


New benchmarking tool for physical activity facilities


ukactive has launched a business perfor- mance benchmarking tool for gyms and leisure centres, enabling them to compare how their facility is performing against the industry average and rival establishments. To be intitially based on five metrics


– total membership, attrition rate, joiner rate, membership yield and average length of membership – the move chimes with ukactive CEO David Stalker’s previous calls for industry strategy to become more evi- dence-based. Te overall aim of ukactive and delivery partners Mazars is to enable decision makers to measure their business against the market and use the knowledge to liſt perfor- mance. Details: http://lei.sr?a=e2e9U


UK chains lead EU revenue table


UK-based health club chains Virgin Active and David Lloyd Leisure are leading the charge of Europe’s fitness sec- tor, with 2013 revenues that place them first and second respectively among the con- tinent’s top gym operators. Tis was one of the main


findings from a report on cur- rent trends in the European health and fitness market published by EuropeActive, formerly known as the European Health & Fitness Association, in cooperation with researchers from Deloitte. Virgin Active, part of


Membership rates are expected to continue to increase


Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, was named as the market leader in Europe, generating total revenues of £437m in 2013, followed by David Lloyd Leisure in a distant second with revenues of £327m. In terms of membership, Germany-based


budget operator McFit led the rankings as 1.2 million people exercised in its 200 clubs. Te report predicts budget gyms to be the biggest drivers of growth in 2014, identifying country’s such as Turkey and Poland to lead expansion


Te site includes a six-lane 25m swimming pool


£31m Redcar leisure centre is now up and running


Operator Everyone Active has opened the doors to Redcar & Cleveland Leisure and Community Heart aſter a £31m investment. The S&P Architects-designed proj-


ect started in October 2011 and officially launched in the north east seaside town on 26 April aſter 30 months of work. Te 120-station gym has been kitted out


with the Precor Experience Series range including treadmills, upright and recum- bent bikes, adaptive motion trainers with Open Stride and elliptical crosstrainers, plus Concept II Rowers and strength equipment. On the aquatic side, there is a FlowRider


surf simulator, a six-lane 25m swimming pool and a “beach-style” pool, as well as an 11m by 7m learner pool with moveable floor. A sauna and steamroom are also present. Additional sports facilities include an


eight-court sports hall, a group exercise stu- dio and spectator seating in both the pool area and sports hall. Elsewhere, the civic side of the building will house the borough’s council chamber, registry office, business space for SMEs, plus civic space and meet- ing rooms. Details: http://lei.sr?a=z6u6R


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with expected growth rates of 20 per cent. Europeactive aims to almost double Europe’s


health club members by 2025 and reiterated the importance of a unified sector in improv- ing wellbeing across the continent. “At the end of 2013, 46 million members were


exercising in one of the 46,500 clubs across Europe,” said Herman Rutgers, co-author of the report, who added that this would grow further. Details: http://lei.sr?a=H9P5C


ukactive’s Turok outlines activity strategy


The health and fitness sector must continue to highlight - both at gov- ernment level and with local GPs - the financial benefits of physical activity to achieve a redistribution of public funds, says ukactive chair Fred Turok. Opening the 2014 active-net confer-


ence in Coventry, Turok said it is vital that the industry keeps pushing the busi- ness case for physical activity to ensure a ‘recutting of the funding cake.’ He drew heavily on ukactive’s widely-


publicised Turning the Tide on Inactivity report, pointing out that at English local authorities spent on average just two per cent of public health budgets on physi- cal activity promotion and investment in 2012, compared to the 38 per cent spent on sex- ual health. Tis, he added, was despite the fact that figures show diseases that can be prevented through physical activity are actually the biggest drain on public health budgets. To realise the ukactive recommendation for a


Fred Turok is keen for a rebalancing of public health spending


importance of promoting physical activity. It must be taken out of the political arena and we are working hard to ensure this is reflected in forthcoming party manifestos,” said Turok. “At the other end of the spectrum, physi-


rebalance of public health spending, Turok advo- cated employing a two-pronged strategy. “At government level we are pushing really hard for cross-party consensus on the


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


cal activity advocates should work closely with local GPs to further promote activity initia- tives and continually make the financial case for better public health. through investment.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=y4n9U


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2014


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