NEW OPENING
Industrial luxe: The changing rooms feature exposed copper piping as a design feature
at millennials – the cohort born between the 1980s and mid-2000s whose formative years have been dominated by technology, and yet who value community, family and meaningful experiences. The club will be totally cashless,
paperless and pay-as-you-train, with all customers signing up and booking classes online, and ‘paying’ for things in-club via their ID. There will, stresses Balfour, be no tie-in contracts, deals or special offers and “defi nitely no crappy free T-shirts or paper timetables handed out”. “People will either like it and buy into it or they won’t,” he adds uncompromisingly.
“This generation don’t believe any corporate marketing BS – they go online and read peer reviews before deciding for themselves. We have to earn their loyalty by delivering excellence every time.”
Mental and physical The club, which is spread over a ground floor and basement, offers 8,000sq ft of space structured around two studios with theatre-grade lighting. The Ride studio has 64 of the latest ICG indoor bikes, and incorporates weights and bands into the classes. The Reshape studio offers bootcamp-style classes and yoga, with Woodway treadmills and all exercise equipment conveniently housed in a patented workbench – the 1Rebel Box – designed by Escape Fitness. There’s also a reception area, café and changing rooms. The club’s interior, which has been
designed by London-based architect fi rm Studio C102, is described as “industrial luxe” and features lots of reclaimed items and unexpected details like fi re hoses being used for the hand shower attachments. Dean says: “The result is a space that I believe could win awards. We have an environment of pared-back modernity juxtaposed with sophistication and unexpected comfort. For me, it’s the obvious thought process and attention to detail to every part of the club that stands out the most.” But while the design looks set to impress, there’ll also be a lot of eyes
Lockers for the changing rooms were supplied by Craftsman
on the classes to see just how different they are from other microgym offerings. Here, Balfour has brought his passion for extreme environments to the fore, looking to recruit and train instructors with a certain mental toughness that will enhance the class experience. He says: “A lot of classes are taught
by people who’ve always been fi t, but they don’t connect well to the mental side of workout. It’s something the industry doesn’t do very well. “We want to get customers into a class
that really pushes them, so they get the results of personal training but in a group training environment. We also want to give them something that improves their mental strength and pushes them through boundaries they didn’t know existed before they came to class.” And the high calibre staff will be well
rewarded for their efforts, according to Yates, with pay rates far higher than the industry average and a degree of fl exible working that enables an enjoyable work- life balance. “If staff only want to work a three-day week so they can spend more time with their family, then we can accommodate that,” Yates adds.
Embracing change When asked what brands they admire, it’s perhaps not surprising that the
58 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
1Rebel team cite business models that fall outside the health and fitness industry and that are well loved by millennials – brands such as Uber for transport and Airbnb for accommodation, both of which have been hugely successful at tapping into consumer needs. Balfour says: “Although there are
some notable exceptions like Les Mills CEO Phillip Mills, who’s a true visionary, the fi tness industry has been slow to adapt and change with the times. “My father is a similar age to Phillip,
in his 60s, and even though he’s proud of what he created, he recognises the fi tness market now needs to change. He kind of likes that fact that we’re totally rebelling against the model he pioneered before us.” With one club up and running, and
plans for another six to eight clubs across the City over the next few years, it remains to be seen whether 1Rebel can shake up the market and establish itself as the truly original lifestyle brand it aspires to be. But as Dean concludes: “Among
the more traditional operators I see a refusal to change, or a fear of the cost of change, as their major challenge. However, many different industries are seeing that it only takes one disrupter to change a market.” ●
February 2015 © Cybertrek 2015
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