Jon Wright has seen his affordable health club operator Xercise4less expand quickly

THE ALDI phenomenon has seen Britain’s squeezed middle class shoppers abandon their preconceptions and flock to budget supermarkets.
Jon Wright has seen his affordable gym operator Xercise4less expand quickly as people realise it is not necessary to spend £40 or £50 a month to say fit.
The firm has 10,000 members at its Wakefield and Castleford sites and will turn over £2.5m for the year to July, although it wants to increase this tenfold by 2015 as business models change, Mr Wright said.
“Typically 15 per cent of adults use health clubs but that is moving towards 20 per cent. It is opening up our market.”
The growth of Xercise has been based on a low subscription rate, of £14.99 a month, flexibility, with members on monthly, discounted 12 month rates or ongoing contracts, rather than the rigid long-term agreements with high penalty clauses used by some operators, and a focus on costs which means several instructors are self-employed personal trainers rather than on the firm’s payroll.
“The key for us is to be flexible and to meet the members’ requirements,” said Mr Wright, a former Leeds rugby union player.
“We let you freeze fees if you get injured or go on holiday. It is just so much cheaper to run – (changing and freezing memberships) was a longer process but now it is done at the click of a button.”
This model, of lower costs and lower fees, is why Mr Wright describes his firm as the Aldi of the fitness sector, in honour of the German supermarket.
Last month Xercise reached another significant landmark when it appointed business angel Neil Ewin as a non-executive director.
For the firm to keep growing in the long-term, however, it may need a capital injection. The credit crisis which has driven customers to Xercise also means it remains difficult for small businesses to get a loan and owner Mr Wright said it was this, as well as the challenge of finding suitable sites, that could limit its growth.
So would he be willing to sell a stake in the business? “It is a possibility. The way that banks are is that they are not falling over themselves to lend you money. That is just the nature of the climate we are in.
“If the banks are not willing to do it your only alternative is to go to private equity. Clearly, we want to get to a lot bigger before that.”
In the meantime, Xercise, which is profitable, will open a new site in a 32,000 sq ft former retail warehouse in Stockton in September, creating 40 jobs. It also plans to extend its Wakefield site, a former Allied Carpets store, by adding a 2,000 sq ft ladies only extension, although Mr Wright said the firm will not be opening a full size single sex gym.
Instead it will continue to drive up its customer base and find new sites. It wants to have 15 gyms and 150,000 members by 2015 which Mr Wright is confident he can achieve, based on a low rate of churn (the number of members leaving and joining).
Mr Ewin will play a key part in this after joining last month. The SME investor and consultant, from Leeds, is an experienced business angel who sold his legal software group, Visualfiles, to a US company for a multi-million pound sum in 2006.
“It is an advantage to bring somebody on board of that calibre,” Mr Wright said.
“He comes in with that level of insight – (helping improve) customer services ideas and repeat business. The health club industry is a very sales driven industry.”
Mr Ewin will bring the experience of running a business to Xercise, which has been built on Mr Wright’s knowledge of the gym industry. He has been involved with health clubs for 18 years after injury forced him to stop playing rugby union.
He played for Headingley in the early 1990s and in the first year after its merger with Roundhay, when the new club was known as Leeds Tykes (now Leeds Carnegie). He went on to play for Harlequins, before injury cut short his career aged 23.
By Peter Edwards
peter.edwards@ypn.co.uk

Jon Wright has seen his affordable health club operator Xercise4less expand quickly

THE ALDI phenomenon has seen Britain’s squeezed middle class shoppers abandon their preconceptions and flock to budget supermarkets.
Jon Wright has seen his affordable gym operator Xercise4less expand quickly as people realise it is not necessary to spend £40 or £50 a month to say fit.
The firm has 10,000 members at its Wakefield and Castleford sites and will turn over £2.5m for the year to July, although it wants to increase this tenfold by 2015 as business models change, Mr Wright said.
“Typically 15 per cent of adults use health clubs but that is moving towards 20 per cent. It is opening up our market.”
The growth of Xercise has been based on a low subscription rate, of £14.99 a month, flexibility, with members on monthly, discounted 12 month rates or ongoing contracts, rather than the rigid long-term agreements with high penalty clauses used by some operators, and a focus on costs which means several instructors are self-employed personal trainers rather than on the firm’s payroll.
“The key for us is to be flexible and to meet the members’ requirements,” said Mr Wright, a former Leeds rugby union player.
“We let you freeze fees if you get injured or go on holiday. It is just so much cheaper to run – (changing and freezing memberships) was a longer process but now it is done at the click of a button.”
This model, of lower costs and lower fees, is why Mr Wright describes his firm as the Aldi of the fitness sector, in honour of the German supermarket.
Last month Xercise reached another significant landmark when it appointed business angel Neil Ewin as a non-executive director.
For the firm to keep growing in the long-term, however, it may need a capital injection. The credit crisis which has driven customers to Xercise also means it remains difficult for small businesses to get a loan and owner Mr Wright said it was this, as well as the challenge of finding suitable sites, that could limit its growth.
So would he be willing to sell a stake in the business? “It is a possibility. The way that banks are is that they are not falling over themselves to lend you money. That is just the nature of the climate we are in.
“If the banks are not willing to do it your only alternative is to go to private equity. Clearly, we want to get to a lot bigger before that.”
In the meantime, Xercise, which is profitable, will open a new site in a 32,000 sq ft former retail warehouse in Stockton in September, creating 40 jobs. It also plans to extend its Wakefield site, a former Allied Carpets store, by adding a 2,000 sq ft ladies only extension, although Mr Wright said the firm will not be opening a full size single sex gym.
Instead it will continue to drive up its customer base and find new sites. It wants to have 15 gyms and 150,000 members by 2015 which Mr Wright is confident he can achieve, based on a low rate of churn (the number of members leaving and joining).
Mr Ewin will play a key part in this after joining last month. The SME investor and consultant, from Leeds, is an experienced business angel who sold his legal software group, Visualfiles, to a US company for a multi-million pound sum in 2006.
“It is an advantage to bring somebody on board of that calibre,” Mr Wright said.
“He comes in with that level of insight – (helping improve) customer services ideas and repeat business. The health club industry is a very sales driven industry.”
Mr Ewin will bring the experience of running a business to Xercise, which has been built on Mr Wright’s knowledge of the gym industry. He has been involved with health clubs for 18 years after injury forced him to stop playing rugby union.
He played for Headingley in the early 1990s and in the first year after its merger with Roundhay, when the new club was known as Leeds Tykes (now Leeds Carnegie). He went on to play for Harlequins, before injury cut short his career aged 23.
By Peter Edwards
peter.edwards@ypn.co.uk

YMCA health club to close after struggling to remain financially viable.

YMCA health club will close its doors at the end of the month after struggling to remain financially viable.
Club members expressed anger after receiving the news last week in a letter from club manager Lissa McIldowney, while Hepburn Shire has promised to investigate new options for a heath club.Ballarat YMCA chief executive Malcolm Healey said the Smith Street facility was not financially viable in its current location in the grounds of Daylesford Secondary College and would close on June 30. “We have explored several alternatives for the health club’s continuation, but unfortunately we have not been able to achieve a positive outcome,” Mr Healey said.He said the site’s location and limited day-time access, as well as issues of amenity, had restricted the health club’s ability to attract sustainable membership.Patrons with term memberships or membership passes will have the balance of their payments refunded. Mr Healey said the six casual YMCA staff affected by the closure would be supported to find alternative employment. Club member Kathleen Murray said Daylesford was being “geographically discriminated against” by the closure. “.This is a sudden and hugely disappointing announcement which leaves the local residents without any access to a gymnasium before and after work.”It also makes it incredibly difficult for locals to try and keep fit during the colder months,” Mrs Murray said. She said many members were angry and the decision to close the gym made the promotion of health and wellbeing in the area laughable.Daylesford Secondary College acting principal Tiffany Holt said the decision by the YMCA came as a shock to the school.”The college has been in ongoing lengthy discussions with the shire regarding ways to maximise the use and availability of the health club, and we will continue to nvestigate ways to maintain this great facility for the benefit of both our school community and the wider community,” she said.Hepburn Shire mayor Rod May said the decision was regrettable but unavoidable.”According to the YMCA, the ongoing operation of the club was clearly not financially sustainable and they were left with no other choice.”Council is committed to working with both the YMCA and the Daylesford Secondary College to explore other options so our community can continue to enjoy the benefits such a club and facility provides,” he said.Club members who contacted The Advocate paid tribute to Ms McIldowney for her leadership of the club and expressed sadness they would no longer be able to exercise together at the facility.
http://www.hepburnadvocate.com
The Advocate

YMCA health club to close after struggling to remain financially viable.

YMCA health club will close its doors at the end of the month after struggling to remain financially viable.
Club members expressed anger after receiving the news last week in a letter from club manager Lissa McIldowney, while Hepburn Shire has promised to investigate new options for a heath club.Ballarat YMCA chief executive Malcolm Healey said the Smith Street facility was not financially viable in its current location in the grounds of Daylesford Secondary College and would close on June 30. “We have explored several alternatives for the health club’s continuation, but unfortunately we have not been able to achieve a positive outcome,” Mr Healey said.He said the site’s location and limited day-time access, as well as issues of amenity, had restricted the health club’s ability to attract sustainable membership.Patrons with term memberships or membership passes will have the balance of their payments refunded. Mr Healey said the six casual YMCA staff affected by the closure would be supported to find alternative employment. Club member Kathleen Murray said Daylesford was being “geographically discriminated against” by the closure. “.This is a sudden and hugely disappointing announcement which leaves the local residents without any access to a gymnasium before and after work.”It also makes it incredibly difficult for locals to try and keep fit during the colder months,” Mrs Murray said. She said many members were angry and the decision to close the gym made the promotion of health and wellbeing in the area laughable.Daylesford Secondary College acting principal Tiffany Holt said the decision by the YMCA came as a shock to the school.”The college has been in ongoing lengthy discussions with the shire regarding ways to maximise the use and availability of the health club, and we will continue to nvestigate ways to maintain this great facility for the benefit of both our school community and the wider community,” she said.Hepburn Shire mayor Rod May said the decision was regrettable but unavoidable.”According to the YMCA, the ongoing operation of the club was clearly not financially sustainable and they were left with no other choice.”Council is committed to working with both the YMCA and the Daylesford Secondary College to explore other options so our community can continue to enjoy the benefits such a club and facility provides,” he said.Club members who contacted The Advocate paid tribute to Ms McIldowney for her leadership of the club and expressed sadness they would no longer be able to exercise together at the facility.
http://www.hepburnadvocate.com
The Advocate

International Health Club News…… Ruling to free health club members from long contracts

Anyone tied into a gym contract of more than a year should be able to cancel it more easily and without cost, following a landmark ruling last month. Working up a sweat: The ruling could mean that other gyms will not be able to tie customers into contracts for more than 12 months. In May, the Office of Fair Trading won a ruling at the High Court against Ashbourne Management Services, which draws up contracts and collects payments from independent gyms. This Friday the High Court is set to make an enforcement order on the ruling which could mean that anyone who is signed up to a gym contract that is longer than 12 months will be able to cancel it for free. During the case the judge looked at 13 Ashbourne contracts, ruling that in 10 of them the lengthy minimum membership periods (usually 12, 24 or 36 months) were unfair when Ashbourne knew that many consumers stop attending the gym after two or three months. He also ruled that three other contracts were still unfair because they tied members in for more than 12 months. The ruling, although not yet legally binding, could see other gyms follow suit. Current contracts for 12 months or longer do not need to be cancelled, but gyms will not be able to enforce penalties or insist that members pay for the whole amount outstanding if members decide to leave.It also means that gym-goers can cancel their memberships without cost, even if it is within 12 months, if they raise genuine issues about the quality of the gym. The OFT said that the ruling should give other businesses in the sector which use similar terms an ‘understanding of how a court would rule’ if its terms or contracts were unfair.Jason Freeman, Director in the OFT Goods and Consumer Group, said: ‘Unfair terms that unreasonably bind consumers into long contracts they cannot leave, and heavy-handed collection techniques, have no place in businesses’ dealings with consumers. ‘This ruling should help traders to understand where the boundaries lie, and sends a warning that if they cross the line, the OFT and local trading standards services can take action.’

International Health Club News…… Ruling to free health club members from long contracts

Anyone tied into a gym contract of more than a year should be able to cancel it more easily and without cost, following a landmark ruling last month. Working up a sweat: The ruling could mean that other gyms will not be able to tie customers into contracts for more than 12 months. In May, the Office of Fair Trading won a ruling at the High Court against Ashbourne Management Services, which draws up contracts and collects payments from independent gyms. This Friday the High Court is set to make an enforcement order on the ruling which could mean that anyone who is signed up to a gym contract that is longer than 12 months will be able to cancel it for free. During the case the judge looked at 13 Ashbourne contracts, ruling that in 10 of them the lengthy minimum membership periods (usually 12, 24 or 36 months) were unfair when Ashbourne knew that many consumers stop attending the gym after two or three months. He also ruled that three other contracts were still unfair because they tied members in for more than 12 months. The ruling, although not yet legally binding, could see other gyms follow suit. Current contracts for 12 months or longer do not need to be cancelled, but gyms will not be able to enforce penalties or insist that members pay for the whole amount outstanding if members decide to leave.It also means that gym-goers can cancel their memberships without cost, even if it is within 12 months, if they raise genuine issues about the quality of the gym. The OFT said that the ruling should give other businesses in the sector which use similar terms an ‘understanding of how a court would rule’ if its terms or contracts were unfair.Jason Freeman, Director in the OFT Goods and Consumer Group, said: ‘Unfair terms that unreasonably bind consumers into long contracts they cannot leave, and heavy-handed collection techniques, have no place in businesses’ dealings with consumers. ‘This ruling should help traders to understand where the boundaries lie, and sends a warning that if they cross the line, the OFT and local trading standards services can take action.’

World Gym Shuts Doors After Dispute Between Owner, Landlord

World Gym Shuts Doors After Dispute Between Owner, Landlord
Sign in window calls closure ‘temporary’ but at least one member is not so sure.

By Karen Sorensen
http://plainfield.patch.com

World Gym members in Plainfield are learning the hard way their workout facility has “temporarily” closed — when they are greeted by a sign on the front window telling them to use the World Gym in Montgomery.The fitness center shut its doors late last week, the result of a dispute between the building owner and the owner of the Plainfield World Gym franchise, said Esther Colima, a staff member for the Montgomery World Gym.Colima said she did not know the nature of the dispute or if the gym, at 12337 S. Route 59, would reopen. In the meantime, she said, they’re seeing as many as a dozen Plainfield members using their facility daily because of the closure.At least one member said in an e-mail Tuesday that he feared that gym may be closed permanently, and that people who had paid in advance would not be reimbursed.”I know people, me included, prepaid for the summer and others have an automatic debit [for] which we will probably never see a refund,” Kurt Corrigan wrote. “All everyone wants is their money back and to move on, but it does not seem they are going to honor that.”The owner of the gym could not be reached for comment. Building owner Joe Ardovich, whose strip mall includes several other businesses, including Limestone Brewing Company, did not return phone calls.Calls to the World Gym corporate offices in Downers Grove also were not returned.If the Plainfield facility does not reopen, it would follow on the heels of the World Gym in Elgin, which is owned by the same franchise holder and shut its doors in May. Customers there, too, are being told to use their memberships at the Montgomery facility or file a claim for a reimbursement.According to the World Gym Web site, annual memberships cost $29.99 and members pay for each month in advance. For singles, that amount is $23.85, for couples it’s $33.85 and for families it’s $43.85 ($25 additional for every family member beyond the first three).So far, the village has not received any complaints about the fitness center’s closure, said village spokeswoman Amy De Boni.

World Gym Shuts Doors After Dispute Between Owner, Landlord

World Gym Shuts Doors After Dispute Between Owner, Landlord
Sign in window calls closure ‘temporary’ but at least one member is not so sure.

By Karen Sorensen
http://plainfield.patch.com

World Gym members in Plainfield are learning the hard way their workout facility has “temporarily” closed — when they are greeted by a sign on the front window telling them to use the World Gym in Montgomery.The fitness center shut its doors late last week, the result of a dispute between the building owner and the owner of the Plainfield World Gym franchise, said Esther Colima, a staff member for the Montgomery World Gym.Colima said she did not know the nature of the dispute or if the gym, at 12337 S. Route 59, would reopen. In the meantime, she said, they’re seeing as many as a dozen Plainfield members using their facility daily because of the closure.At least one member said in an e-mail Tuesday that he feared that gym may be closed permanently, and that people who had paid in advance would not be reimbursed.”I know people, me included, prepaid for the summer and others have an automatic debit [for] which we will probably never see a refund,” Kurt Corrigan wrote. “All everyone wants is their money back and to move on, but it does not seem they are going to honor that.”The owner of the gym could not be reached for comment. Building owner Joe Ardovich, whose strip mall includes several other businesses, including Limestone Brewing Company, did not return phone calls.Calls to the World Gym corporate offices in Downers Grove also were not returned.If the Plainfield facility does not reopen, it would follow on the heels of the World Gym in Elgin, which is owned by the same franchise holder and shut its doors in May. Customers there, too, are being told to use their memberships at the Montgomery facility or file a claim for a reimbursement.According to the World Gym Web site, annual memberships cost $29.99 and members pay for each month in advance. For singles, that amount is $23.85, for couples it’s $33.85 and for families it’s $43.85 ($25 additional for every family member beyond the first three).So far, the village has not received any complaints about the fitness center’s closure, said village spokeswoman Amy De Boni.

Health Club News?????…Why Rooster from True Grit didn’t worry about the gym

By Nuala McKeever
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
I watched True Grit last week. That’s True Grit, the remake, with Jeff Bridges as the hard drinkin’, big hearted but tough bounty hunter, Rooster Cogburn.
I had only seen the original film with John Wayne in the role, a couple of weeks before that. Much as I never really liked John Wayne and much as I love the work of Jeff Bridges, I ended up preferring the original movie. Anyway, so what, that’s not really the point here. The point is that I now keep asking myself, in moments of indecision: “What would Rooster Cogburn do?” There was a time when I’d ask myself, in moments of moral dilemma: “What would Jesus Christ do?” Not to sound too pious, but I still think there’s usually a clear way to approach things, we just don’t want to take the consequences sometimes, preferring to indulge in justification and ‘whataboutery’ instead. I mean, would Jesus Christ, faced with the customer-before-him having left their change in the self-service checkout and walked away without realising, say to himself “Ach sure, that’s their look out. I don’t know who it belongs to. If I hand it in, it’ll probably just go to boost the already huge profits of this supermarket, therefore my taking it would actually be a victory for the little guy?” Yes, that did happen to me and I did hand it in. And yes it quite possibly has gone to boost the store’s profits by £5.18, but, hey, I can sleep easy in my bed at night. Or rather, I can’t. That’s the problem. See now I’ve got things to lie awake and worry about that the likes of Jesus Christ and Rooster Cogburn never had to concern themselves with. The latest is exercise and weight loss. As I joined a new gym last week I laughed to myself imagining Rooster suckin’ on a bottle of blue coloured energy drink and announcing to his riding companions that he’d managed to lose four pounds the week before and half-an-inch off his waist, while showing them his before and after photos, laminated and attached to his ‘World’s Best Bounty Hunter’ heart-shaped key fob.And as I woke up the other morning to discover my mobile phone battery had died overnight despite being fully charged the evening before, I realised that the reason people in Rooster’s day didn’t need to join gyms was because in order to communicate with others, they actually had to move physically either to talk, ride, write and post or run after the person in question. And if they had a few extra pounds on, nobody cared anyway, cos they weren’t gonna have to show it off in skimpy outfits the minute the sun came out.
They had occasional baths, no phones and shorter life expectancy. We have daily showers, the pressure of always being contactable and longer life expectancy.
But, because we live longer, we now have to work longer and pay more and get back less to live on.
Our beds are more comfortable and we don’t have to worry about snakes, but still we lie awake at night anyway ‘cos the serpent of progress keeps biting us on the ass.
Oh for the days when all y’had to worry about was ridin’ out for weeks on end, sleepin’ rough, not washin’, eatin’ beans, trackin’ down a known criminal and possibly losing your life in the process.

Simple.

Health Club News?????…Why Rooster from True Grit didn’t worry about the gym

By Nuala McKeever
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
I watched True Grit last week. That’s True Grit, the remake, with Jeff Bridges as the hard drinkin’, big hearted but tough bounty hunter, Rooster Cogburn.
I had only seen the original film with John Wayne in the role, a couple of weeks before that. Much as I never really liked John Wayne and much as I love the work of Jeff Bridges, I ended up preferring the original movie. Anyway, so what, that’s not really the point here. The point is that I now keep asking myself, in moments of indecision: “What would Rooster Cogburn do?” There was a time when I’d ask myself, in moments of moral dilemma: “What would Jesus Christ do?” Not to sound too pious, but I still think there’s usually a clear way to approach things, we just don’t want to take the consequences sometimes, preferring to indulge in justification and ‘whataboutery’ instead. I mean, would Jesus Christ, faced with the customer-before-him having left their change in the self-service checkout and walked away without realising, say to himself “Ach sure, that’s their look out. I don’t know who it belongs to. If I hand it in, it’ll probably just go to boost the already huge profits of this supermarket, therefore my taking it would actually be a victory for the little guy?” Yes, that did happen to me and I did hand it in. And yes it quite possibly has gone to boost the store’s profits by £5.18, but, hey, I can sleep easy in my bed at night. Or rather, I can’t. That’s the problem. See now I’ve got things to lie awake and worry about that the likes of Jesus Christ and Rooster Cogburn never had to concern themselves with. The latest is exercise and weight loss. As I joined a new gym last week I laughed to myself imagining Rooster suckin’ on a bottle of blue coloured energy drink and announcing to his riding companions that he’d managed to lose four pounds the week before and half-an-inch off his waist, while showing them his before and after photos, laminated and attached to his ‘World’s Best Bounty Hunter’ heart-shaped key fob.And as I woke up the other morning to discover my mobile phone battery had died overnight despite being fully charged the evening before, I realised that the reason people in Rooster’s day didn’t need to join gyms was because in order to communicate with others, they actually had to move physically either to talk, ride, write and post or run after the person in question. And if they had a few extra pounds on, nobody cared anyway, cos they weren’t gonna have to show it off in skimpy outfits the minute the sun came out.
They had occasional baths, no phones and shorter life expectancy. We have daily showers, the pressure of always being contactable and longer life expectancy.
But, because we live longer, we now have to work longer and pay more and get back less to live on.
Our beds are more comfortable and we don’t have to worry about snakes, but still we lie awake at night anyway ‘cos the serpent of progress keeps biting us on the ass.
Oh for the days when all y’had to worry about was ridin’ out for weeks on end, sleepin’ rough, not washin’, eatin’ beans, trackin’ down a known criminal and possibly losing your life in the process.

Simple.

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