April 2013
The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine
Operators urged to back Daniel’s VAT campaign By Christina Eccles INDEPENDENT gym manager Daniel Sanger has urged operators to form a collective voice and get behind his campaign to address the VAT problem facing many private clubs. Daniel is general manager at Isenhurst Health Clubs, a group of three family run gyms in East Sussex – the oldest of which has been in business for over 17 years. Each club pays about £65,000 in VAT and £35,000 in business rates each year but Daniel claims it’s unfair some other local gyms are exempt from these payments because they operate as not for profit trusts. Daniel recently shared his concerns with public figures – including local councillor Jonica Fox and Wealden MP Charles Hendry – and after being advised he could benefit from contacting the Commission Competition, now hopes to form a group of like minded gym owners to put forward a stronger case. Daniel said: “The consensus is the next step is to approach the Competition Commission with our plight. Letting them know about the lost revenue to the Government through the tax relief [not for profit
trusts] receive and the highly uneven playing field created by allowing this to happen. They need to know businesses are losing their battle almost solely because their prices are hiked up by the addition of VAT. “I am ready to approach the Competition Commission but all the advice I have received from my meetings suggests we have more of a chance in making a change if we form a group and go to them as an industry and not individuals. As gym owners and operators we have a duty to our staff and our members to effect a change.” Daniel has set up a dedicated e-mail address – dsisenhurst@btinternet.com – for gym owners interested in getting behind the campaign and told Workout he would be happy to hear from anyone who can help. He added: “What I am hoping to do is to get my details out to gym owners and put us all in contact at which point I can send out a questionnaire to each of them with the hope of building a case with some realistic facts and figures. “I believe it is our job to make the Government aware and let them level the playing field. If companies like us disappear the hole in the government’s budget will only grow.”
No 235 £3
Functional training category launched
Virgin Active has partnered with tennis star Laura Robson and former British number one Andrew Castle to launch a new tennis offering across its 21 health and racquet clubs. Laura, who trained at the operator’s Chiswick Riverside club in her early years, will also act as an ambassador for the Virgin Active Junior Tennis Academy, which is designed for members aged three to 16. I Full story, Page 5.
GYMS which specialise in functional fitness now have the chance to be recognised with a National Fitness Award, with the launch of a new dedicated category for the 2013 event. Functional Training Gym of the Year is aimed at clubs which are either solely dedicated to functional fitness or have diversified and created their own functional area to tap into this growing trend. Gyms entering should provide details of why they chose to focus on functional fitness, any specialist equipment they have which makes them stand out from the crowd and the impressive results their members have generated from working out this way. Nominations for this and all of the other available categories can be made by visiting the new look NFA website at www.nationalfitnessawards.co.uk Trophies will be handed out to the lucky winners at a glittering ceremony, which this year will be held at The Palace Hotel in Manchester on Friday December 6. I For more information about the 2013 NFAs, see inside.