Project Fitness

Market Overview and Key Statistics: UK Health and Fitness Club Market

Market Overview
 

• The UK health and fitness industry is witnessing dynamic growth as greater health awareness, increased leisure spending and brand development by the major chains fuels the popularity of the major chains
• Nearly 8.3% of the UK population - or 5 million people - are expected to belong to a fitness club by December 2004. Many of these will join stand-alone club chains such as Fitness First, Holmes Place, David Lloyd Leisure and LA Fitness and others
• In terms of number of clubs, Fitness chain operators are forecast to expand at a rate of 11.4% in the period to December 2004, reaching a total of 870 clubs by that time
• Continued club expansion means greater competition for the major chains in the coming year, pushing core industry issues such as membership retention, quality staff recruitment and site availability further into the spotlight
• Allegra Strategies research among 4,065 club members indicates a high level of satisfaction with branded clubs chains and strong growth in new members. 65% of the club members surveyed visit clubs more than two or three years ago while 61% did not belong to a health club in the six months prior to joining their current club

Key Market Statistics:

Overview

• The total UK health and fitness club market, including independent clubs, leisure centres and branded health clubs was estimated at 4,822 clubs in April/May 2002 and is forecast to grow by a compound rate of 2% between April/May 2002 and December 2004
• The branded stand-alone health club segment (Fitness First, Holmes Place, David Lloyd Leisure, LA Fitness, etc.) currently represents 13.7% of this market and is forecast to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 11.4%, from 658 clubs in April/May 2002
• The number of branded stand-alone health clubs increased from 443 clubs in December 2000 to 658 clubs currently, an increase of almost 50% over this period
• Branded stand-alone chains currently represent 41.4% of total UK club members and are expected to account for 47% of the total UK market in terms of membership by December 2004
• Turnover in the private stand-alone branded chains is estimated at £981.3 million for calendar year 2002, an increase of 23% in the past year

Selected Findings from Club Member Research

• 64.8% of club members surveyed claim to visit health clubs more now than 2-3 years ago and 61.4% were not members of a fitness club 6 months prior to joining their current club
• More than one third of members interviewed have switched from a previous club to join their current club
• The overwhelming majority of members surveyed joined clubs to get fit or maintain fitness. However, more than 30% joined to lose weight and 31.1% to relax and relieve stress. More than 10% joined a fitness club for social reasons
• Convenience of location is a key criteria for club selection, with 77.6% out of the total member sample noting 'convenience of location' as a key reason for selecting a particular club
• Other important factors for selecting a club are the choice and quality of facilities and price/value for money 
• The majority of club members surveyed visit their club 2-3 times per week and most spend on average 45 minutes to 1.5 hours in the club Cardiovascular equipment continues to be the most popular fitness facility used by 84.0% of the sample; 64.7% regularly use strengthening machines, while 52.0% use the sauna/steam room or spa
• When asked what else would encourage them to visit the club more often, 35.4% of the sample said that they already visit enough times, however, 17.4% would visit more often if fitness clubs were less crowded; 10.8% said they wanted a greater variety of fitness classes and 10.3% wanted additional facilities
• Almost a third of UK club members surveyed own home fitness equipment, however, the majority use home equipment less than once per fortnight

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