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New role for Gladstone's Georgia Dowdeswell
Gladstone’s Georgia Dowdeswell has moved to a new role within the company as the Product Design Team Co-ordinator.
The move is part of a promotion for Dowdeswell, who has been employed by Gladstone for 12 years, and will be a complete change in direction from her previous role as a Regional Sales Manager. The new role sees Georgia heading up the product design team, who are core to the research, design and business delivery of all new Gladstone software.
Gladstone launches Join@Home
Gladstone Health and Leisure has launched Join@Home, allowing non-members to sign up for a membership online without having to go into the facility.
Join@Home is the first addition to Gladstone’s @Home series of products, which will represent Gladstone’s self-service offering in the future.
Tom Withers, Head of Sales and Business Development at Gladstone Health and Leisure said: “Join@Home is designed to allow customers to sign up to memberships outside of the health club or leisure centre. It revolutionises the member journey and, like many of our other software products, is designed to take pressure away from reception.”
The largest health club in the Caucasus brings world class health and fitness facilities to Baku
A state-of-the-art health club will open at prestigious new development, Port Baku Towers, in February this year. The Port Baku development also includes luxury apartments and penthouses, retail and restaurant facilities and office space.
The Club Port Baku brings both international standards and high-end luxury to the capital. It is the city’s first health club where the personal trainers are registered with the European Register of Exercise Professionals (EREPS). And the Club’s spa is the first in the country to offer Elemis treatments.
Facilities include a 900 square meter gym with 150 stations, overlooking the Caspian Sea, a 25m indoor pool, a 1100 m2 indoor sports hall with NBA approved hardwood floor , three squash courts, a three screen 150 degree golf simulator, a tennis court, a 80 m2 climbing wall, two dedicated group fitness rooms, and spa.
Leisure industry gets thumbs down for customer service
The industry’s biggest customer service survey, carried out by Leisure-net Solutions and The Retention People, revealed that more than half of people questioned wouldn’t recommend their leisure centre or health club to a friend.
The survey, which used the powerful Net Promoter Score® (NPS) and generated more than 32,000 responses, also revealed that more than a fifth of respondents would actively discourage others from joining their club.
A Net Promoter Score is obtained by asking customers a single question on a 0 to 10 rating scale: "How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Based on their responses, customers can be categorised into one of three groups: Promoters (9-10 rating), Passives (7-8 rating), and Detractors (0-6 rating). The percentage of Detractors is subtracted from the percentage of Promoters to obtain a Net Promoter Score. A score of 75% or above is considered quite high.
The discovery of high tech strength equipment going from strength to strength Discover Strength
Leading fitness supplier, Precor has launched a new line of plate-loaded strength equipment - the Discovery Line. Featuring seven pieces combining all the foundational performance elements demanded from a strength line, the range is designed for the first-time user and the seasoned athlete alike and will no doubt be another highlight in fitness facilities.
Adam Hubbard, Director of Product Management for Precor, comments: “The contemporary design of our new plated-loaded machines complements our current Precor cardio offering and responds to our customers’ needs. The whole line is designed to be more inviting and user-friendly.”
The full line is designed with independent arm resistance and converging and diverging movement paths that provide a greater range of motion and usage of muscle groups. Additionally, each piece incorporates a large, easy-to-see text-free illustrational sign that demonstrates correct form and muscle usage at a glance. A QR code on the sign allows smart phone users to easily view a 30-second instructional video.
Physiotherapy unit launches refurbished gym
Following a year and a half of fundraising, Musgrove Park’s Physiotherapy Department has opened a refurbished 191 sq m physiotherapy gym, featuring Precor equipment. British Dressage Paralympic medallist Deb Criddle, opened the facility in the Queens Building on March 23rd, which was attended by current patients and hospital staff.
Funding for the unit was raised through a variety of events such as auctions, raffles, Autumn and May balls, quiz nights and table top sales. Zumba classes were also offered along with a family portrait photography day. Sponsorship was provided by numerous local firms and services, with donations of raffle and auction prizes. The events raised £8,500 towards the total cost of the equipment, with the remainder of the funds provided by physiotherapy donations.
Oxford graduate to open Basingstoke Anytime Fitness Gym
Berkshire resident, and Oxford Brookes graduate Tom Norbury is to open a 5,000sq ft, Anytime Fitness 24 hour gym, in central Basingstoke. Franchisee Norbury, graduated from Oxford Brookes a mere eighteen months ago, and has since worked in marketing. The new gym is due to open in early May.
Tom has always had an ambition to own a business and says: “I realised quite quickly that start up concepts often fall short, whereas franchise models that have a proven track record are successful more often than not. I researched various franchises for over six months, began discussions with Anytime Fitness and have never looked back. They have a fantastic support structure and have gone from strength to strength in the industry, opening over 1,800 clubs worldwide to date.”
Keep ahead with the Open Stride
Cardio training has moved up to a new level, with the launch of Precor’s new Adaptive Motion Trainer ® (AMT) with Open Stride™. The breakthrough technology, applied to the award winning AMT, provides the ability to change a workout in mid-stride and offers exercisers even more freedom of motion, by allowing them to not only dynamically change their stride horizontally but also vertically.
The AMT with Open Stride™ features a stride height that can be adjusted from 17cm to 25cm, to create a more personalised workout with a greater variety of training routines for all levels of fitness. At the same time, the stride length can be increased from 69cm to 91cm, a great benefit to runners and taller users. The two features combined provide an infinite range of exercise capabilities and can even duplicate the workouts of treadmills, ellipticals and bikes. Climb vertical and it’s a stepper, increasing resistance, it becomes a climber, then stride out and you can be running full stride in no time - an all in one workout. The pendulum-like swing of the Stride Dial™ shown on the console helps exercisers see their stride length and determine the muscle group they are targeting. Gym goers also have the option to make their workout easier or harder by adjusting the resistance with 20 levels to choose from.
Stevenage Leisure demonstrates environmental responsibility
Stevenage Leisure is working towards the British Standards BS8555 mark, a framework that helps organisations develop an Environmental Management System and ultimately minimise their negative impact on the environment.
The charitable organisation, which manages 19 sites on behalf of five different local authorities, is working with quality management specialist Right Directions to achieve the Kitemark-like standard, which will be held centrally by Stevenage Leisure for all its facilities.
Leisure industry ‘stars’ scoop awards at national conference
A number of operators, trusts and councils across the UK have been recognised in the inaugural Quest and National Benchmarking Service (NBS) awards, presented by Olympic Gold and Silver medallist, and Quest ambassador, Darren Campbell MBE.
The awards, presented earlier this month at the national Quest and NBS conference in Loughborough, included Quest Plus Best Performance, won by Clissold Leisure Centre, and Sports Development Best Performance, won by Kent Sports Development. There were also long service awards for sites that have been registered continuously for ten years or more, and an individual long service award for both assessors and mystery visitors.
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