Fitness First: Making the World a Fitter Place

Fitness First is the largest privately owned health club in the world, over 540 Fitness First clubs worldwide, over 1.7 million members in 21 countries. It was founded in 1993 by Mike Balfour in Bournemouth. In the year 1996, it started with the company’s fund expansion that led to expansion in Germany by 1998. They opened shop in Belgium the year after. The expansion went through Asia, Australia, Spain in the year 2000. Malaysia followed in with France, Holland, and Italy after a year. It gained recognition from the HRSA as world’s number one under the leadership of Colin Wagget as CEO. Fitness First franchise has also reached in the Middle East with 18 clubs operating.

Fitness First Services and Social Existence

Fitness First has a variety of services offered to members at $40 to $110 membership fee rate per month. They offer Body First, group fitness exercise, personal trainings, cardio machines, and they also give annual “New You” achievement awards for their members. They usually held International Fitness Week which takes place every February. In 2009, they launched Strictly Fit Conjunction in cooperation with BBC Worldwide. It is a low impact aerobic group class that is open to members and non-members. In Asia, they served as the anchor sponsor and employer of the trainers of the Lose Big Program developed for the Biggest Loser Asia. 

The participating countries were Hongkong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Fitness First also have decrees to follow when it comes to customer service. Each member is greeted personally as they come into the club. They also promised optimum cleanliness and maintenance to the facilities, in which every member enquiries and complaints are dealt immediately. For new members, they are given a minimum of two induction session of fitness service within the first four weeks. They also provide motivation for personal trainings and group exercise. To ensure that their uniformed staffs are qualified and competent, they have provided a list of guidelines in their website to how they keep their club with the right staffs. Their staffs called as the Fitness Firsters, have undergone appropriate recruitment process to select the right talent. 

They ensure that each new Fitness Firsters experience appropriate induction experience to make sure that they are on the right track. Each of them is committed to the right quality trainings and development opportunities to provide career advancement and opportunities. They also do recognition for those who meet the high standards of the club with regards to their performance and behavior. Above that, they empower their people with competence and confidence and provide managing development for those who need support. The club is also ative when it comes to community and social responsibility. During the holidays, each club from various continents held charity events and also provide a fitness camps to teenagers. In Australia, this free community strategy is intended for teenagers to give them access to help them learn and practice early habits of improving their overall fitness and well-being.

Fitness First Controversies

There have been reports of controversies regarding with the membership of the club. It is mostly about the club experiences complaints from members who cancel their membership but they receive continuous charges in their debit accounts. That goes way back in August, 2008, when a Fitness First club member from Australian New South Wales took Supreme Court to recover a $200 cancellation fee. The court ruled on favor of Fitness First. At that Fitness First sought action to ensure that there should be a full understanding of the contract. Other than that, there have been issues with regards to their staffs. In 2004, staffs have been less likely showing members the proper handling of equipments. 

 

Also, there is an alleged attacking of a staff to a member after a dispute in closing time. In 2009, an Australian Consumer Magazine found the club to have the most aggressive psychological techniques in getting customer's to sign contracts. When you take time to look for reviews, they usually have complaints with their membership cancellation in Fitness First.