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The Gym Hounslow opens with 5000 members entirely sold online
The Gym Group, a low cost health club solution headed by John Treharne former boss of Dragons Health Clubs and supported by Bridges Community Ventures has just opened its first club in Hounslow having pre-sold 5000 members online using the Harlands Group Snap system.
The Gym will provide quality gym facilities at affordable prices, with membership costing from £9.99 a month with no membership contract. Facilities will include 160 pieces of state-of-the-art gym equipment and The Gym will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Similar models have been rolled out in the US and continental Europe with great success.
All members have and will continue to join online with more than 2/3rds joining remote from the club.
Online membership sales is an obvious solution for many clubs to grow sales and Snap was developed over 2 years ago on the assumption that the industry would in time mature and react to the growth of internet sales throughout all retail markets. When we launched snap there was not one club selling memberships online in the UK but now there are hundreds.
Harlands Group is clearly at the forefront of the industry in terms of the knowledge and understanding of this new market place. We have carried out e surveys of members joining online and have a clear understanding of the profile of these members and the increase in sales the online capability offers. The Gym demonstrates the huge potential of combining a low cost club model with online sales. It has been said the UK is following European markets such as McFit yet McFit offers no online membership sales!
We are delighted to have been an integral part of the development and success of the first of The Gym Group clubs and we have already significantly developed our services to deliver a new upgrade on the initial snap system.
If you are interested in the low cost solution or the benefit of online sales then give us a call.
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Bridges Community Ventures announces investment in low cost gym provider
Gym membership in the UK is currently more expensive than anywhere else in Europe, according to market research company Mintel. Bridges Community Ventures, a venture capital company with a social mission, has invested a first tranche of £1m in The Gym, a low cost, high-quality gym provider.
Bridges Community Ventures invests in companies that are located in the most under invested areas of the UK or that can achieve strong social impacts in sectors such as healthcare, the environment and education.
The Gym’s locations, in line with Bridges Community Ventures’ social criteria, will cover areas where large portions of the local community will be able to enjoy the benefits of low cost gym membership. The Gym’s first location is in Hounslow, London, in the Blenheim Centre, a £220m mixed use development comprising of retail, leisure, private and affordable key-worker housing and additional community facilities. The Hounslow Gym opened on 30 June 2008 and has already attracted over 5,000 members.
Anne-Marie Harris of Bridges Community Ventures commented:
"We are extremely excited by this investment. About 12 per cent of the UK population are members of a gym but research indicates this figure could increase significantly if high membership fees were not so restrictive. The Gym offers a logical solution to the problem. With exciting plans for expanding the business in the near future, we are confident that the investment will offer a good return for investors as well as delivering on our social impact goals."
John Treharne, CEO of The Gym added:
"The Gym will offer quality fitness facilities to a wider selection of the local community than can currently afford it. With 675,000 residents living within five miles of our first location, The Gym will be accessible to all. I am delighted with Bridges’ involvement and look forward to their management insight into our future developments".
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