Posted by admin - January 29, 2014 10:15 am
Local gyms are looking trim
Your local gym is looking trim
It’s that time of year again when we commit (ahem) to make those necessary improvements to our health, life and well-being. By the time this is posted however, many of our New Year’s resolutions will already have fallen by the wayside.
Favourite resolutions
Amongst many favourite resolutions is the commitment to lose weight and get fit, and for an increasing number of us this will involve selecting the best gym to which we can entrust said transformation. Historically, this may have included joining an ‘elite’ private gym, offering a full selection of spa facilities, treadmills stretching as far as the eye can see, and the all important juice bar to re-energise and rejuvenate afterwards.
Affects of austerity on gym membership
However, in these times of austerity you might expect the leisure market to be suffering. But think again, as membership to public gyms and leisure centres has in fact been growing!
Roger Blitz’s recent article ‘Private gyms feel strain as public sector moves in’ (Financial Times 13 January), outlines the steady increase, particularly over the last five years, in the growth of public sector facilities both in terms of numbers of centres available and an ever increasing number of members. This he attributes to individuals seeking best value for money in these times of economic uncertainty.
Local Authorities have long since been able to tender out the provision of leisure services to not-for-profit social enterprises including trusts and charities. In fact, in Scotland, he reports, all public facilities are now operated by trusts.
Such not for profit entities benefit from a number of exemptions and reliefs from taxation and as a result significant cost savings can be achieved. Surpluses made can then be ploughed back into facilities rather than being shared with private investors.
Comment from Clair Rayner, FCA, DChA – Partner, MFW Sittingbourne
At our Sittingbourne office, partner Clair Rayner has been working with clients in the leisure sector for over 20 years and comments :
“In our experience these public-private partnerships really have led to an improvement in the quality of public leisure facilities. With surpluses made being ploughed back into equipment and service provision, public gyms are now often equipped with state-of-the art fitness equipment and host the latest exercise classes. In addition, because of their charitable objectives these organisations are also committed to ensuring that affordable and accessible health and fitness facilities are available to the majority and as such they are highly competitive on price.”
Even with this increase in memberships and access to affordable facilities currently only 12% of us belong to a gym/health club but recent reports suggest that by 2050 at least half of us could be defined as overweight or obese and, therefore, the opportunity for further growth in this sector is immense.
We have been actively providing advice, support and accountancy related services to an ever growing number of leisure trusts for the past 20 years. For more information about the services we provide visit the specialist sector area of our website or contact Clair Rayner.
