Leisure Media HCM March 2010 - TourismInsights

new
opening
BLACK, WHITE ...
AND GREEN
Mike Hill visits the new Les Mills club in Christchurch, New Zealand,
where they’ve pulled out all the stops to make the club both a healthy
environment for members, and healthier for the environment
B
etter known in the UK for
its domination of the group
exercise market, Les Mills
actually runs 10 clubs of
its own in New Zealand, including a
completely refurbished flagship site
that’s just re-opened in Christchurch.
The building, which dates back to
the 1800s, fi rst opened as a gym in
1980. After several extensions, the
company realised the club needed a
more dramatic overhaul and effectively
undertook a new-build on the site,
knocking down the old building and
starting from scratch. The project took
15 months, with the offi cial opening
in October last year. Total investment
was NZ$10.4m (around £5m) and has
resulted in a club that offers more than
3,350sq m (36,000sq ft) of exercise
space and the capacity for around 5,000
members; current membership is 4,100.
Ian Turley, marketing and business
development director for Les Mills,
describes the typical customer: “Les
Mills sees itself as the premium fi tness
brand in New Zealand, but if you want
a white towel experience, we’re not for
you. We clearly position ourselves as
clubs that can attract both the fi rsttimer
and the seasoned, more serious
gym bunny – but ultimately we’re for
people who, while having great fun, also
take their workouts seriously.”
The newly re-opened Christchurch
club, located in the city centre, targets
the commuter market. John Dunford,
regional manager of the two Les Mills
clubs in the city, explains further: “We
market ourselves to stylish singles,
generally the younger age group, 20-30s,
mainly professional, city centre, CBD
(central business district)-type workers.”
CREATING A BUZZ
The club provides around an acre of
fitness facilities over three floors.
Entering the spacious office-like
reception area, you’re immediately
impressed by the light, airy design and
welcoming post-workout chill-out area.
Behind reception is the first of two
dedicated cardio studios with fully
automated environment, light and sound.
The second floor offers an expansive
main gym with dedicated boxing and
Kinesis areas, with black flooring and
equipment. Next to this is the second
dedicated cardio studio, behind which
sits the ladies-only gym, with its
predominantly white décor contrasting
with the black of the main gym.
Equipment – provided by Life Fitness,
Technogym, Cybex and Trixter – is
much more orientated towards free
weights than tends to be the case in the
UK, refl ecting the more serious training
approach of the club.
The overall impression is of a facility
with a real buzz about it at peak times,
refl ecting the Les Mills aim of stimulating
the mind to keep the body moving.
Nowhere is this more evident than in
the two massive group exercise studios,
with an entire third fl oor dedicated to
providing 73 classes a week encompassing
the eight Les Mills programmes – the club
only offers Les Mills classes.
“We have two fantastic studios, one
of which can hold a maximum of 220
participants and the other a maximum
of 120,” says Dunford. “On a busy, rainy
Monday, we often have more than 600
members coming through for classes,
and we estimate that around 63 per cent
of our members regularly use the group
exercise programme.”
Indeed, it’s worth pointing out that
although hour-long gym inductions are
available – with three ‘on-track’ chats
also included within the fi rst 90 days of
membership – not everyone takes this
offer up, as many members only visit
the club for group exercise.
Not only are the studios imposing,
with full stages for the instructor
Around 63 per cent of members
regularly participate in the club’s
group exercise programmes
60
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march 2010 © cybertrek 2010