Everyone Active is pushing the You+ membership hard as part of its forward plans / Marcel Grabowski
Public sector operator, Everyone Active, will be increasingly focusing on wellbeing going forward, with a push to get one-third of its members onto the You+ wellbeing membership next year, as well as doubling down on efforts to engage members with a wider range of the modalities it has on offer.
HCM attended the company’s National Fitness Launch held at Dunstable’s Grove Theatre on 23 September. More than 500 Everyone Active colleagues and representatives from 25 partner organisations attended the event.
Talks were given by MD Duncan Jefford; national fitness products and training manager, Stephanie Heath; group fitness managers, Jamie Sweeney and Matt Hague and national group exercise manager, Angela Ioannou.
These were followed by Well HQ co-founder, Baz Moffat – who is working with Everyone Active on an upcoming women and girls’ strategy; Pillar Wellbeing clincial director and physiologist, Oli Patrick, who consults on the You+ membership and brand ambassador, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey.
Introducing the event, Jefford said: “I’m really excited about where we’re taking the business. There’s a huge pivot from fitness to wellness. We’ve developed our You+ model over the last 12 months and it’s really important that we realise that we’re not just talking about fitness. We’ve got the six pillars of wellness, and it’s really pivotal from a colleague perspective and also a customer perspective that we really start to deliver on wellness rather than fitness.”
Attendees also had the opportunity to try out a range of modalities including group exercise, reformer Pilates and breathing workshops led by Jamie Clements.
Group exercise is another strong area of focus. Class categories are being simplified to help members identify sessions that match what they want – whether that is strength training, cardio or a more social, feel-good experience. It is also aiming to bring more younger members into its studios and make greater use of its spaces for fitness events.
Programming will increasingly emphasise experiences and equipment that people can’t be replicated at home. To this end, there will be a national rollout of Les Mills Ceremony Hyrox to capitalise on demand for hybrid training.
Ioannou says: “Les Mills Global Report found that younger generations are seeking experiences, not just workouts, and that’s what we need to keep in mind when we’re looking at our programming and when we’re considering on our timetables. The key points that we can solve with group exercise are the key barriers of people coming into our centres – confidence, motivation, and connection.”
Reformer Pilates provision will be expanded. It has already grown from five to 15 studios and from 800 to more than 5,000 members. The next ambition is to double to at least 30 studios and 10,000 members.
Recovery will become a more visible part of the offer, through additional equipment and sessions linked to Everyone Active’s You+ wellbeing programme. Staff training is being updated so that conversations about habits and wellbeing become part of the everyday member experience.
For personal training, Everyone Active plans to introduce subscriptions and a more connected system for booking, payment and programming. There will be the option to purchase four, eight and 12-session packages, encouraging longer-term commitments from customers to achieve their goals.
The common thread is to help someone who comes in for one activity discover others that suit them, whether that means moving from the gym floor into a group exercise class, trying reformer Pilates, PT or adding recovery to their routine. For Everyone Active, that wider use of the centre is central to its plans for engagement, retention and ultimately the bottom line.
Attrition is at the lowest rate it’s ever been, and Sweeney spoke about plans to lower it further through greater engagement, as well as make it easier to take out a membership. The online induction was identified as creating a barrier for customers when first accessing the facilities. In response, this has been replaced with a more flexible approach through the existing Health Commitment Statement. Customers are now invited to watch online videos, book into a gym introduction, or ask for assistance if they want to find out how a piece of equipment works.
October will be Everyone Active’s first You+ Month and all 16,500 colleagues will go through the wellbeing programme’s assessment process, while members on all membership types will be encouraged to explore their You+ Age and the habits that could improve their health. The company wants staff to bring that understanding into everyday conversations with members, helping them make use of more of the support available across its centres.
Heath says: “We’re challenging the foundation of fitness because fitness is changing, and we need to push those bandwidths and rethink what that looks like, and we need to push more into that wellness space and unite all of those elements together to truly be ways of wellness.
“We can build wellness for life in the member journey, by living and breathing it as a culture, as a company, as a business. Then we hold the power to rethink the future of the fitness industry.”
As Everyone Active seeks to embed wellness into the culture of the organisation, a You+ Ibiza Wellness Retreat has been created this year for eight colleagues. Last year a retreat was organised for 10 members who entered into a prize draw after signing up to You+. This year the three-day staff retreat will take place after the four-day member retreat.
Hosted by Ibiza Retreats in the north of the island, the retreat is packed with wellness experiences, activities, relaxation, wholesome nutrition and shared social time designed to align with the six You+ wellness pillars.
Duncan Jefford, Oli Patrick and Harry Aykeenes-Aryeetey are all speaking at the all-keynote HCM Summit later this month in London. You can book tickets here.
