Friday, 19 September 2025

Does the Fitness Industry Need a Representative Body for Private Gym Operators?

When we talk about representation in the fitness industry, it’s easy to assume that every corner of the sector already has a voice. Public leisure operators are supported by well-established lobbying groups. Recreation has the Recreation Alliance. Group exercise instructors have EMD. UKActive has a broad remit and is often presented as “the” voice of the industry.

But here’s the reality: none of these bodies exist specifically to represent private operators — the independent gyms, franchise facilities, boutique studios, and hotel fitness clubs that together make up around half of the sector.

This matters because the private market is the part of the industry that most people interact with daily. These are the facilities rooted in local communities, led by passionate owner-operators, creating jobs and improving health at a grassroots level. Yet when policy is discussed, funding is allocated, or partnerships with government are formed, this sector is too often absent from the table.

So the question we must ask is simple: are we missing a trick by not having a body dedicated to fighting the corner of private operators?

Why Representation Is Needed

The private fitness sector makes up a huge proportion of the industry. Independent gyms alone account for nearly half of all facilities in the UK. Yet their voice is often absent when policy decisions are made.

Here’s why that matters:

Access to funding: Public leisure operators can apply for government grants and local authority funding streams. Private operators are largely excluded, even though they deliver many of the same health outcomes.
Government engagement: The private sector is often left out of discussions on national health initiatives. We talk about working with the NHS, but when schemes are announced, it’s usually public leisure that’s invited to the table.
Support networks: Public operators have established forums, knowledge-sharing platforms, and lobbying groups. Private clubs rarely have a structured network where owners can learn from and support each other.
A strong voice: When government does listen to the sector, the loudest voices tend to be the big corporate chains. Independents, franchises, and hotels are rarely heard, despite their unique challenges.
Collaboration: There is no central mechanism for private operators to collaborate — whether on campaigns, training, or standards. Everyone is left to fight for themselves.
Policy blind spots: Issues like business rates relief, VAT, or access to health funding are often shaped without private clubs in mind, leaving them disadvantaged.

Put simply, the private sector is being under-represented, under-supported, and overlooked.

What Could Change Look Like?

Imagine if there was a dedicated body that spoke directly for private gyms, studios, franchises, and hotel operators. What should it offer?

A strong lobbying presence to ensure private clubs are included in government and NHS-funded initiatives.
Access to funding opportunities or at least advocacy to create parity with public leisure.
National and local campaigns to promote fitness and drive membership growth, not just for the big chains but for every operator.
Shared standards and benchmarking tools so independents can measure themselves against best practice.
Networking, mentoring, and collaboration opportunities, giving owner-operators the support they often lack.
A positive public narrative that highlights the role private clubs play in improving community health and wellbeing.
An organisation that can collaborate with local authorities, public leisure, and other organisations to bring the whole sector closer together.
An organisation that can put private leisure into the rooms where decisions are made.
Provide members with access to support and professionals to help drive success.
National campaigns that drive new business for all in the sector.

Final Thought

The private sector has been left to fight its own battles for too long. Independents, franchises, and hotels make up the lifeblood of the fitness industry, yet they lack a clear voice at national level.

That situation could be changing very soon. But here’s the key question: if we had a body dedicated to representing the private sector, what would you expect it to deliver? What benefits would make membership valuable to you?

Because if the industry is serious about growth, collaboration, and a stronger voice in shaping national health, then private operators need more than passion — they need representation. They need a body that isn’t afraid to challenge the current status quo, push for meaningful change, and build a future where the private sector is not just heard, but respected.

Monday, 15 September 2025

Why Isn’t the Nation’s Health at the Top of the Political Agenda?

Every election cycle, the same themes dominate headlines and manifestos: immigration, the economy, taxation, cost of living, crime. But one issue rarely appears with any real weight — the health of the nation.

And yet, poor health underpins so many of the crises politicians claim to be addressing. The cost of living crisis is exacerbated by sickness absence and reduced productivity. Economic growth is stunted when a large portion of the workforce is living with preventable conditions. The NHS crisis is inseparable from obesity, inactivity, and poor lifestyle choices.

So why isn’t population health treated as a national priority?

A Brief Look at the History

Public health has always had a complicated relationship with politics. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, reforms in sanitation, housing, and clean water transformed national health outcomes. These were political interventions born of necessity, not choice.

Since then, political will has wavered. The creation of the NHS in 1948 put treatment, not prevention, at the centre of government focus. Successive governments have introduced piecemeal initiatives — the “Change4Life” campaign, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, Boris Johnson’s proposed obesity strategy — but very few have been consistently funded, implemented, or allowed time to make a difference.

Unlike the big-ticket issues of immigration or taxation, national health rarely wins votes. It requires long-term investment and consistent cross-party support, two things politics in its current form rarely delivers.

The Overlooked Crisis

The scale of the issue is undeniable. Poor health is not just about personal wellbeing — it impacts the nation’s stability and prosperity:

NHS Costs: Obesity alone costs the NHS more than £6 billion annually, projected to rise to £9.7 billion by 2050 if nothing changes (Public Health England).
Economic Productivity: Ill health costs the UK economy an estimated £100 billion a year in lost productivity, absence, and reduced capacity (ONS).
Sick Days: In 2022, UK workers took 185 million sick days, the highest on record, with stress, musculoskeletal issues, and obesity-related illness leading the way (ONS).
Life Expectancy: Improvements have stalled and in some communities are falling. Preventable lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, and certain cancers remain major contributors.

Politicians talk about boosting productivity, reducing NHS waiting lists, and supporting household incomes. Yet all of these are directly affected by the nation’s health — and the silence on this front is deafening.

Why the Silence?

Several reasons explain why health is often absent from the political agenda:

Short-term political cycles: Politicians work to four- or five-year cycles. Public health change often takes a decade or more. There’s little appetite for initiatives that won’t deliver immediate results.
The responsibility debate: Health is framed as individual choice. Obesity and inactivity are seen as personal failings, not systemic issues that require intervention. This creates political hesitation.
Complexity: Immigration, taxes, and interest rates can be debated with numbers and policy levers. Health is more complex. It requires joined-up thinking across education, housing, transport, and business. It isn’t soundbite-friendly.
Powerful distractions: Brexit, Covid-19, inflation, geopolitical crises — all have consumed political energy in recent years, leaving prevention-focused health policy even further down the list.

Whose Role Should It Be?

The truth is, improving national health cannot fall solely on government or the NHS. It requires a coalition:

Government: To set clear policy, provide funding, and create incentives.
Education: To teach children early about healthy eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits.
Employers: To invest in employee wellbeing, recognising the link between health and productivity.
The fitness industry: To lead by example, deliver accessible services, and reach beyond the 17% of the population already engaged in structured exercise.
Communities: To create local solutions, from walking groups to school outreach.

It is everyone’s responsibility — but it needs to be coordinated, consistent, and sustained.

What Could Change Look Like?

If the nation’s health was prioritised, we could see:

Tax incentives for healthy living: As we have with the cycle-to-work scheme, why not reward those who take part in structured activity or commit to health programmes?
National lifestyle campaigns: Not one-off events like National Fitness Day, but long-term campaigns comparable to anti-smoking initiatives that genuinely shifted behaviour.
Investment in prevention: Shifting just a fraction of NHS budgets from treatment to prevention would create long-term savings.
True collaboration: Engaging independent gyms, private operators, and community facilities alongside public leisure, creating inclusive and scalable solutions.
Integration with education: Embedding health, movement, and nutrition into the school system, so future generations grow up with the right habits.

Final Thought

Immigration, taxation, the economy, the cost of living — these issues dominate political debate. But none of them can be solved without addressing the foundation of national health.

A sick population means lower productivity, higher costs, and shorter lives. A healthier population means economic growth, reduced NHS strain, and communities that thrive.

It is time for politicians, policymakers, and the public to stop treating health as an afterthought and start recognising it for what it is — the foundation on which everything else depends.

Until then, we will continue to patch holes in our economy and services, all while ignoring the root cause.

Thursday, 11 September 2025

Why the Fitness Industry Must Lead the Fight Against Obesity

If the fitness industry is serious about working alongside the NHS and becoming a key player in supporting a healthier population, we must start with what we do best. Yes, there is a valuable place for cardiac rehabilitation, post-operative support, and targeted interventions. But the greatest impact we could make, both on individual lives and on the healthcare system, is in tackling weight management and movement at scale.

The Cost of Obesity

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of healthcare costs in the UK.

According to NHS England, obesity costs the wider UK economy an estimated £58 billion a year, largely due to lost productivity, sickness absence, and increased healthcare costs.
Around one in four adults in England are obese, and a further 37% are overweight.
Obesity is linked to more than 30 medical conditions, from type 2 diabetes to cancer, and contributes to around 30,000 premature deaths per year.
Public Health England has estimated that obesity costs the NHS alone over £6 billion annually, with projections that this could rise to £9.7 billion by 2050 if no action is taken.

These figures make it clear: while specialist rehab services are valuable, the most pressing challenge to our nation’s health is weight and inactivity.

A Missed Opportunity

Back in 2020, Boris Johnson’s government announced an “obesity strategy” to encourage healthier eating and more active lifestyles. The rhetoric was bold, but the follow-through was limited, and the opportunity to create real, sustained behaviour change was lost.

This raises a difficult but necessary question: why can’t the fitness industry itself take the lead? Why are we waiting for government to solve a problem that sits squarely in our area of expertise?

Leading from the Front

Imagine if, instead of fragmented efforts, our sector launched a unified, national strategy focused on lifestyle change and weight management. The industry could:

Run local and national campaigns highlighting the reality of living at a healthy BMI and the benefits of active lifestyles.
Partner with educators to embed healthy eating and movement into school culture, ensuring children grow up with the right habits.
Collaborate with media and community organisations to normalise health as a daily priority, not an afterthought.
Provide entry-level programmes that demystify gyms and focus on safe, effective, and enjoyable activity for beginners.

With government endorsement, this could even be linked to tax incentives for individuals. Just as the cycle-to-work scheme encourages active commuting, why not reward people who commit to structured activity programmes or achieve measurable improvements in health markers? The reward system should focus on individuals taking action, not simply funnelling subsidies into the sector.

Shifting the Narrative

The key is to focus less on treating illness and more on preventing it. That means:

Encouraging lifestyle change rather than quick fixes.
Making fitness accessible to all, not just the confident 17% who already engage.
Involving the whole industry — independents, franchises, leisure centres, and boutique operators alike — not just large public-sector providers.

The skills exist. The knowledge exists. The passion is undeniable. What has been missing is a unified willingness to collaborate without self-interest and to drive campaigns that benefit the population first, and the sector second.

A Call to Action

If we, as an industry, truly believe in our ability to improve health, then obesity and inactivity must be our primary battleground. Not only is this where we can make the greatest societal impact, but it is also where we can prove our value beyond doubt to policymakers, educators, and the public.

The question is not whether we can do this. We can. The question is whether we are willing to work together, with a collective purpose, to make it happen.

The Power of Collaboration

Collaboration does not mean giving up your USP or diluting your brand. It means recognising that when gyms work together, the whole sector gets stronger. Here are just a few ways local operators could start:

Joint community events: Multiple gyms in one town partnering to host fitness festivals, taster days, or city-wide open weekends. Imagine the impact if every club in a city opened their doors for free over one weekend, marketed together, and celebrated the benefits of being active.
Shared challenges and campaigns: A “10,000-step city challenge,” or a joint fundraising event where every participating gym contributes classes and promotion. Not only would this engage current members, but it would draw in people who have never set foot in a club.
Cross-promotion: Gyms with different niches could recommend each other rather than compete. A strength-focused facility could point members interested in yoga toward a local studio, and vice versa.
Joint staff training: Bringing teams together for education days builds professional relationships, raises standards, and reduces costs for each club.
Corporate partnerships: Instead of each gym chasing the same large employer individually, why not collaborate to create a city-wide employee wellbeing package? Shared access, shared marketing, shared results.
School and university engagement: Partnering as a collective to deliver programmes across schools or student unions would have far greater impact than each club trying to go it alone.

Why Collaboration Works

Collaboration has clear advantages:

Market growth: Instead of cannibalising the 17% of already active adults, collaborative campaigns can bring new people into the sector.
Stronger community presence: A group of gyms working together becomes a force that councils, local businesses, and the media can’t ignore.
Shared resources: From marketing spend to outreach, pooling efforts reduces costs while increasing impact.
Member perception: Seeing gyms unite around a cause enhances credibility and shows that the industry cares more about health than about rivalry.
Owner wellbeing: Running a gym can be isolating. Having regular dialogue with peers facing the same challenges fosters support and resilience.

Building the Bridges

Change won’t happen by accident. It starts with small steps:

Pick up the phone and introduce yourself to other club owners in your area.
Suggest a coffee to share experiences — you’ll often find your challenges are the same.
Propose a pilot initiative, whether it’s a joint charity workout or a shared social media campaign.
Create a local WhatsApp group of owners and managers to share quick wins, frustrations, and opportunities.

Collaboration is not about losing your edge or giving away trade secrets. It’s about recognising that a rising tide lifts all boats.

Final Thought

The fitness industry has a choice. We can keep fighting over the same limited market, competing for members who already value exercise. Or we can come together to grow the sector, reach the 83% who aren’t yet active, and create stronger, more sustainable businesses in the process.

Competition has its place, but collaboration could be the game-changer our industry needs. The question is — are we brave enough to try?