Good news in 2007 for the two words - fitness, and health. For the first time they became inseparable and politicians, private health care, primary care trusts, industry observers, city financiers and operators all had these two words on the tip of their tongues.
Fitness First kicked off the year by announcing a new partnership with BUPA to offer free, or discounted memberships, to customers of the health insurer. The BUPA Health Check has now been rolled out across all Fitness First sites. Members now realise it’s more sophisticated than just standing on the scales or measuring your waist. A new professionalism has come into the industry which really does target those who need help most.
That professionalism was taken to another level when David Lloyd Leisure also teamed up with BUPA to open the first Core Exercise Clinic (CEC) in Enfield, north London in March. Aimed at people recovering from injuries, surgery, the mature market, those over weight and the many quite simply, gym shy, this was a bold move to be applauded. From the commissioned research both parties know the potential is enormous and now word is out, new clients are given a BUPA Core Assessment, which reviews their health, fitness and lifestyle, so membership is growing amongst a previous difficult to find market. A second site is on the cards for the next unintimidating CEC.
Meanwhile at Virgin Active, Cannons and LA Fitness PruHealth announced a five-year exclusive deal which enables members of those gyms to collect points towards discounts on their health insurance policies.
Almost before the ink was dry, and well before the year was out, Nuffield Hospitals had acquired Cannons clubs and related businesses for an undisclosed sum. Nuffield Hospitals is the largest not-for-profit independent healthcare provider in the UK. Cannons will be working along side Nuffield Proactive Health (NPH) who plan to introduce additional health and wellness needs for the ordinary club member. NPH are currently working with over 120,000 employees annually providing health, vitality and wellness.
This broader-based health and fitness proposition that Nuffield have announced is very timely given the statement that James Purnell, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) made in Telford at the end of November. It’s now official, prevention is more cost effective than cure, and more research on this key point will be published in 2008 by NICE.
It seems Purnell has been busy persuading his opposite number at the Department of Health that Health, with its bigger budget, needs to take on a far bigger role in dealing with physical activity promotion. The current Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Andy Burnham MP will be leading a cross-departmental team looking at physical activity across all government departments. It’s less than 12 months since Caroline Flint, the former minister for public health, dubbed the minister for fitness, was grappling with if, and how, to change the nation’s attitude to fitness and physical activity while Purnell, with the help of the Treasury, has pushed the agenda on within weeks to ensure that a long-term cultural change takes place.
Physical activity was being pushed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in April. The BHF made an impassioned yet funny presentation to 70 MP’s at the House of Commons urging the government to run campaigns to get the over 50’s active. The consumer campaign launched by BHF aimed; to enthuse, by making participation look like fun, to educate, by clarifying how much activity people should be doing and to encourage, by making 30 minutes a day a minimum standard. The campaign encouraged people to walk the dog, wash the car, take the stairs, go swimming, do the gardening and have more sex more often. The clever poster campaign encouraged people to do at least two of these activities at the same time. This multi-tasking idea not only raised a smile with the MP’s present but also got an Early Day Motion signed by 110 MP’s in total.
After all this multi-tasking and playing with the dog for half an hour you’re probably looking for a reward and now that jammy dodgers, chocolate, cigarettes and alcohol are persona non grata what better than to head off to a spa. 2007 will be the year when the spa business in Ireland and the UK started maturing whilst continuing to grow at more than twice the rate of the pure fitness business.
In the first State of the UK Spa Industry Report, launched at SPATEC in Malta in April, it was found that over 6.1 million treatments per annum took place in 3,373 treatment rooms with 4,571 therapists across 402 ‘spas’ across the UK that have five or more treatment rooms.
Some notable investments and openings where water was a theme include the £32m leisure centre in Swansea opening this month, on time and budget, with a water park area the size of a football pitch. In June, with a little less water, the Pendle Leisure Trust opened the Inside Spa which was billed as the first truly affordable Spa. The Inside spa is part of the new £3m holistic and wellness centre at Pendle Wavelengths. At the same time in London’s east end the Bethnal Green Spa opened following a £1.2m investment in York Hall. A partnership between Tower Hamlets Council and the contractor Greenwich Leisure (GLL) produced the Russian steam rooms, Finnish Sauna, Victorian Turkish baths, a hammam, ice fountain and thermal treatments.
In 2007 Ireland hosted the Ryder Cup and around 120 hotel spas along with some of the world’s most exclusive and luxurious spas found golf was good for business. Now Failte Ireland report that Spa breaks is one of the top activities searched for on their website. The spa has become an integral part of the hotel experience and all chains are reporting unprecedented growth. This year the global Relais & Chateau found the average duration of a stay at a property with a spa is 32% longer than the global average without a spa. Hotels of all sizes are looking to enhance the experience so in Norfolk Fitness Express opened their first Imagine Health & Spa at the Knights Hill Hotel while the Hilton Hotels have launched 21 brand standards that all hotels must meet by the end of 2010. Hilton Fitness by Precor will be the new global brand to be rolled out across the Hilton chain. That’s consistent experience in 600 locations around the world or 3,000 as it will end up now that the £13bn Blackstone deal is complete.
Whatever the size of your operation I’m sure good news will continue in 2008 for those two words, so may your fitness and health be with you.
