Back in 2019 I was asked to create a concept for GLL, the largest UK-based charitable social enterprise delivering leisure, health and community services. GLL has 240 public sports and leisure facilities, 50 million visitors a year and more than 650,000 members on its books. The brief was to ideally create a boutique concept within or on the gym floor. It was a high-level brief and I have been involved in everything from choosing the kit, to developing the programming, to recruiting the staff, to training the staff, to ensuring they are ready to go off and run the programmes.<\/p>\n
We spent six months setting everything up in 2019 and then, as luck would have it, we went into lockdown on the very day we were meant to go live at the site in Greenwich. After a long wait, we were able to restart the project and the new site opened at the beginning of September in King\u2019s Cross, London, offering a boutique group fitness space that incorporates one of my favourite tools, ViPR.<\/p>\n
When I sat down with GLL and they asked me to create the concept, they gave me carte blanche on what to do with the space, aside from incorporating the usual pieces of kit you would expect in a gym, such as dumbbells. I immediately decided I was going to bring ViPR into it and, as far as I know, this is the first gym that\u2019s using ViPR in this way in the UK. We have three zones in the gym: the first is the CV Zone, comprising two skill bikes, two skill rowers and two skill mills; the second is the Strength Zone, comprising strength benches which house the dumbbells; and the third zone, which was free for me to create something new and different from other boutique offerings, is the Functional Zone, housing ViPR and TRX, etc. For me, it was about creating something unique. I thought, \u201cIf I was a member, what would I like to see in the space that would excite me?\u201d What better kit to populate it with than ViPR?<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve recruited and trained eight coaches now, who have all become passionate about ViPR through our training. Before we introduced them to ViPR, none of them had actually used the kit before. Now, having learned about the science behind it and its functionality, they are really excited to be using it in their programming because they can see the benefits of using ViPR in this three-dimensional format. They love how it can be so quickly progressed and regressed in a group training environment, depending on the member, by changing the grip or hold without it impacting on the class (e.g., slowing it down). They see how much the members are going to enjoy using the tool. It\u2019s been so worthwhile taking the coaches through the education because, in understanding why they would use ViPR themselves, they can more easily integrate it into their programming. Before we took them through the education, the coaches saw ViPR as a standalone piece of kit. Now, they see the power of integrating it into a programme with all the other kit on offer.<\/p>\n
From a sales and marketing perspective, the management like the fact that having ViPR differentiates the offering from other concepts. The uniqueness also comes from the actual programming and how ViPR will be used in the space.<\/p>\n