By Mark Sinclair
Never one to miss an opportunity, easyJet founder and serial entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has opened his first no-frills gymnasiums in Slough and Wood Green, and says he plans to open at least ten a year from 2012. Without any of the luxuries we have all come to expect, such as a sauna, steam room or pool, is he on to something – or paving the way for a low-cost flop?
While there will be many who shy away from an austerity work out, evidence suggests he may be backing a winner. The 2011 State of the UK Fitness Industry report compiled by the Leisure Database Company showed that while overall gym membership in the UK remained relatively steady – with over seven million members – it is recession-proof council gyms that are fighting back to outperform the sector; after an estimated £250 million investment in modern equipment and improved facilities across UK, public sector gyms saw membership increase by 2 per cent to more than 2.9 million.
This is great news to cost-conscious gym-goers and revenue-hungry local authorities alike. Amidst the recession, with more bad news about the economy hitting the headlines by the day, it seems that consumers are looking to save money and stay fit.
David Stalker, the chief executive of the Fitness Industry Association trade body, said: ‘The last 12 months have been the toughest in our 20-year history. The industry has matured, and we are not immune to the ongoing economic pressures facing all sectors in the current climate. Achieving an overall flat performance during this period demonstrates that the industry has become indispensable.’
With increasing competition for a greater slice of the £3.81 billion per year fitness market, a squeeze on profit margins to try to haul in more customers seems inevitable. With no shareholders to impress with inflated margins, publicly owed gyms are ideally placed to reap even further rewards – along, perhaps, with low-cost private gyms operating along the easyGym line.
In an entry on Sir Stelios’s easy.com corporate site, Paul Lorimer-Wing, joint chief executive of easyGym said: ‘We’re ripping up the rule-book in the fitness sector by ensuring members pay for the stuff they use, not the stuff they never use. We’ve worked closely with some of the best brains in the business to develop a proposition which we are confident will make us a leading player in the European market in the coming years.’
Whoever is the eventual victor, it is evident that health and fitness is still a high priority for us all. Increased competition will naturally yield lower costs across the board and for those of us attached to our little extras and pampering treats, there is no shortage of companies queuing up to offer them.
The industry can take comfort in that whatever the future holds, their existence doesn’t, in itself, look to be under any real threat.
Find out more about easyGym at www.easygym.co.uk.
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