The Leisure Trust does not want you to read this audit report.

It has only been obtained via FOI by going previously to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

It has taken over 2 and a half years to get this far.

Even then,the report has been redacted by the Trust.

There are problems trying to publish these documents on the Forum.

What follows is a text transcript of the original report released through FOI.

As it is a long document, It will appear over various posts - but will get there in the end !

Please read and you can decide for yourself why the Trust do not want you(East Renfrewshire Council Tax Payers) to read the report.

East Renfrewshire Council Tax Payers give £4.5m+ yearly to the Trust.

The East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust

Health and Fitness Audit Report

Audit Completed on 6 December 2016 at Barrhead Foundry Leisure Centre

Audit carried out by: Nick Masson, Sales Director, BigWave Media


BACKGROUND

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team at East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust in their support for completing the audit and their positive attitude to the visit; in particular Ian Pye, Sports Strategy and Development Manager and Kenny McDonnell, Team Leader Gym and Fitness for their input and hospitality throughout the visit and Anthony McReavy Chief Executive Officer for supporting the Business Solution Process.

The key aim and objective is to identify any potential improvements in the health and fitness brand both in terms of service delivery and and commercial opportunities.

This audit report also accepts that there are positive systems and procedures already in place and working very well which are delivering on a daily basis both to customers and the wider community.

The existing team are hard-working and have a desire to make improvements.

However, the potential that has been identified is primarily based upon the team at East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust developing further their current operational procedures, sales systems, sales culture, business key performance indicators and enforcing potential retention strategies to increase the retention and the numbers using the membership, and at the same time ensuring that the brand quality and awareness is raised to a wider community.

The need to position more clearly the trust in the health and fitness market, as competition continues to enter, will be important.

Similarly in the light of government concerns of the growing obesity and diabetes epidemic, which is threatening to engulf the spending on health-related services, the need for physical activity intervention and nutritional advice is increasing.

This includes identifying and targeting new potential markets who in the past have not taken up the physical activity challenge and growing the business.

The audit clearly identifies a number of competitors in the health and fitness market.

Adhering to systems and benchmarking between sites will become even more critical as key performance indicators are developed to measure every aspect of the business.

The element of ‘process’ within the marketing mix of product, place, price, promotion, people and process is having a significant effect on levering the potential from markets as process improves consistency and productivity.

However, the processes need regular examination to ensure they are performing to their full potential.

As part of this process, an assessment has been made of the market potential and whether there is an opportunity to penetrate the existing market more fully and seek out new potential markets.

Understanding the important link between members per gym station and the rest of the facility is critical, in particular group exercise.

Consideration should be given to increasing group exercise classes as a way of supporting the growth in in the health and fitness membership.

This will be particularly important where the number of members per gym station is starting to rise and where it starts to reach the maximum target.

Recognising the need for Lifestyle programming is important by utilising areas with capacity such as casual water space in pools, home exercise and utilising wearable technology.

An important area is increasing the life of a member by encouraging more people to keep going and stay longer and encourage more people to join through referral opportunities.

In the trust market its important that referrals are seen as a way for the trust to meet its obligations as a charity based organisation whose objectives are clearly to increase the activity levels of the communities it serves.

EAST RENFREWSHIRE CHARITBLE OBJECTIVES:

The Company will promote,advance and further Charitable Purposes and activities through the provision of services which enhance and contribute to the health, fitness, personal development and wellbeing of the residents of East Renfrewshire (and beyond) including, but not limited to, educational, sporting, culture and heritage based and community activities.

Retention therefore needs to be focussed on from a commercial and strategic perspective as well as combining this with driving up yield and focussing on monthly net gain.

Potential demand will depend on socio-economic factors, demographics and the effectiveness of the associated marketing and promotional literature and the conversation from this increased activity to sales along with its speed to respond to the digital and online capabilities now demanded by increasing numbers of new and existing members.

Its known that the way people buy is changing, therefore the way you sell and present your services must also change with an increasing number of purchases being made online.

It is of little surprise that the trust needs this area to be successful and in doing so aims to be the health and fitness provider of choice, by giving the Trust a solid grounding and at the same time meet its social and charitable objectives.

The team also demonstrate real ambition in being recognised for delivering the very highest standards of health and fitness provision across many groups within the communities they serve.

This is clearly demonstrated by the activities already in place and the access to capital from 2017.

STRATEGY

1.To complete an Audit of the health and fitness offering at East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre and to qualify the potential of the brand over a four-year growth period.

2.To identify the key recommendations which need to be made to achieve the potential improvements.

3.To feedback these action points to the Senior Management Team.

4.The Senior Management Team to agree priority order of the changes.

5.The Senior Management Team to agree the chronological implementation timetable with the operational staff.

6.To monitor the progress of the action points via a monthly Business Solution partnership once agreed and marketing Big solution

++ To be continued/ Findings

++ Continued

FINDINGS FROM THE CENTERS’ VISITS AND COMPLETING THE BIGWAVE MEDIA HEALTH AND FITNESS AUDIT

The assumptions that have been made are due to the information supplied on the day by the teams at the centre during the audit and a visit to sites.

The report is designed to be used as a working document to progress performance during the year and into the future based on best practice principles from across the industry.

FINDINGS - EAST RENFREWSHIRE CULTURE AND LEISURE TRUST CENTRE BARRHEAD FOUNDARY LEISURE CENTRE

ACCESS/PARKING

- The sat/nav postcode takes you straight to the centre even with a difficult dual road to cross

- Parking was free at the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre although spaces were very limited at 9:17 in the morning. This occurred on two occasions and the team suggest this is a regular occurrence

- There is a large ASDA car park nearby and is free to park

- The majority of team members park at ASDA but the local council workers tend to park in the leisure centre car park. This is being looked at to address via parking fees

- The signage for both centres was clear and but not always visible from the road and very limited driving to the centres. This is a major drawback for the centres compared to other operators in the sector.

- Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre is a modern and impressive building from the outside with a large car park at the front

- The car parks were clean and tidy and free from litter on both sides bearing in mind the car parks themselves were extremely busy

- The walk to the entrance was clear on both sides and the entrances were clearly signposted

- As mentioned earlier the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre car park was very busy on the two different occasions we entered the area

- The customer journey at the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre starts at the front of the centre in a convenient car park which is situated well for access to the centre

- The Barrhead Foundary LC is clear to see from the main road however anyone new to the area may not even know that the building has a pool and gym.

- The reception areas are well laid out and the receptionists were welcoming and helpful on both sites. There was no customer service personnel welcoming you at reception.

- The Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre has a great reception area which is open and easy to access although there is little focus on key promotions or products and services.

- there is a library next door but no examples of cross selling between the two areas.

CUSTOMER VIEW OF THE CENTRES FROM MANAGEMENT

- The customers do like the level of staffing in the gyms and like the idea that the gyms are locally based.

- Price is still an issue as there is a perception that the gyms are run by the council and therefore should be vet cheap to access.

- There is a view by management that the quality of toilets and changing rooms is generally poor and needs to be of a higher standard.

- The changing room issue tends to be greater from women and they tend to be more vocal.

TOTAL CLUB

- The total club figure denotes the total number of members that are currently at the club during the audit and includes direct debit and annual members only.

East Renfrewshire Leisure: 2,446 members

- It was not possible to give an accurate breakdown of the total figure but it was approximately Barrhead Foundary 1,302 and Eastwood Park Leisure 1,144.

- At the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre Gym and Eastwood Park Leisure gym there is a good balance of CV and resistance equipment whilst also considering the wider needs of a diverse community.

- It is recommended that an audit of club figures is completed for each individual centre to confirm both site figures.

- Fitness DD and annual income The Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre: [REDACTED]

- Fitness DD and annual income Eastwood Park Leisure: [REDACTED]

- Fitness DD and annual income East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust Centre total: [REDACTED]

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

- Platinum Membership unlimited access

- Gold membership - gyms and fitness classes

- Silver membership - swimming pools and health suites

- Bronze membership - swimming pools only

AVERAGE MONTHLY YIELD PER MEMBER

- Tis figure relates to the types of membership sold, the number and their value in any month. Other factors that can affect it are administration problems and allocation of monies.

- This figure is critical to the analysis of future potential as changes to membership types and sales can affect the yield figure.

- Based upon the information provided the average yield across all the site was [REDACTED] however the predicted yield at the time of the audit was deemed to be [REDACTED] per month. This has reduced the potential increase but is considered a more accurate figure for future potential.

- The platinum Membership yield is [REDACTED] per month while the lowest yield product is Bronze Membership at [REDACTED] per month.

ANNUAL AND MONTHLY MEMBER SPLIT

- The centres offer monthly direct debit membership and annual one off payments. Direct debits are collected by the trust.

- Annual upfront membership sales run about [REDACTED] of total sales and the DD [REDACTED] approximately.

++ To be continued/ Marketing

++ Continued

MARKETING

- The website looks modern and professional

- In terms of search engine optimisation the following comes up on the first page of the search results which is great.

[PICTURE]

- The website does not have an online data capture or joining option.

[PICTURE]

- There is no apparent option to join and pay online nor can an option be seen to complete a health questionnaire online.

- Part one inductions are not offered online.

During the evening the East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust Centre car park does get very full.

- There are few external opportunities being taken to promote the various activities to customers during their journey to the centre. This might include banners, flags and trailers viewed along the journey to the centre including roadside, car park and outside of the building. There are no A-boards.

- Once inside the buildings the journey is continued in terms of communication through professional signage and leaflets for potential customers to pick up and read.

[PICTURE]

- there are several branding opportunities being taken via collateral offered out which enhances the customer experience, promotes the brand and has a greater impact.

- Reinforcing the brand at every opportunity is critical to get maximum exposure in this way.

SALES

- There is no Sales Manager or Customer Advisor based in either site.

- The Sales Advisors/Customer Advisor role is currently carried out mainly by receptionists, duty managers and other members of the team whilst going about their other duties.

- There are no target sales and therefore no sales rate per day for each site.

- Fitness instructors and receptionists make sales although the whole team are expected to make sales on the sites.

- The sites do not have a new sales sheet for recording sales at the beginning of every month.

- Sales targets are not produced and looked at every morning.

- There are no league tables produced every day for sites to compare their current performance against the target set.

- There are no regular sales and marketing meetings either weekly or monthly to co-ordinate ideas and share good practice and link marketing performance with sales performance.

- The sites don’t therefore update the sales sheet monthly based on the sales outcome from the month before.

- The sites do not have a five-year sales forecast linked to club maximum potential.

- There are no set targets for daily lead generation at any level nor are there any ‘Must Do’ daily procedures to ensure that it happens.

- Guest Enquiry cards are not In operation which record down information regarding the enquiry. There are application forms which require that information, but these are not used for every enquiry, more if someone is considering joining.

- Members of the team that make the sales do not have a list of sales jobs that they must complete on a daily basis.

- Most of the sales come from walk-ins while a small percentage come from telephone enquiries.

- Inductions are booked for new sales and generally they are done individually although occasionally a group induction will be booked. If the person has been a member in the last year they don’t need an induction.

- The site generally would not expect to get a maximum of 5 referrals from a new sale nor would they expect to get at least 3 with at least one name becoming a new member Sale in that month.

- Referral targets are not set by the team. There is no specific referral scheme in operation and no link from referrals to emotional support or increasing activity level.

- Membership sales are not linked to income targets.

- sales targets for the year linked to promotions are not set and are generally changed in relation to performance.

- There isn’t a sales meeting every Monday morning to update figures from the week before and over the weekend.

- Conference calling is not used to share good practice and support underperforming sites.

- Most sales occur at reception or nearby. There is no recognised third space available at the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre although there are several suitable areas if a member of the team was allowed away from reception.

- The current sales promotion this month for memberships was not agreed nor were any plans for an open weekend to bring a friend and a free induction.

- There was no obvious use of daily and weekly passes to encourage people to bring their friends.

One of the biggest sales challenges recognised by the team on sales is getting referrals at point of sale.

- Targets were not set for referral names nor for referral sales.

- Sites did not have a sales activity summary which is kept up to date.

- Therefore, there was no indicator whether referrals are tough to get nor if teams had good conversion rates.

- Marketing are not able to tell sites which promotions in the past have been the most successful, although it was believed that the 12-days of Christmas, which is running again, was likely to be the most successful campaign.

- The key lead generators have not been analysed therefore there were no figures for leads generated from refer a friend, point of sales, guest passes, open days, trial passes, which vary in time, and free class passes.

- Most of the onsite sales come from:

- Walk ins [REDACTED]

- Telephone [REDACTED]

- Online [REDACTED]

- All new clients should book an induction before start in the gym.

- referral targets are not specific nor are referrals expected from the sales person who makes the sale.

- There were no current gym promotions being advertised inside the buildings although we knew that the 12-days of Christmas was going out in December. This was promoted on the website.

[PICTURE]

- There is no sales platform in operation by managers or reception teams.

There is no evidence of a referral campaign running throughout the year rewarding members who recommend a friend to join at the time of the induction.

- There was little outreach organised into the town centres

And to local businesses and any of this activity does not form part of a planned sales platform.

++ to be continued/ Retention

++ continued

RETENTION

- In November the sites were deemed to have lost [REDACTED] members on a club live of [REDACTED] members. This equals to a [REDACTED] attrition rate.

- Currently the Barrhead Foundary have the Pulse system and TRP but this has not been put into operation.

- The current attrition rate across the sites is unknown and therefore there is no appreciation whether their actual performance is above or below the national average of approximately 6.05%.

- The main reasons for leaving the gym are changing rooms, price, time and the women tend to be more vocal.

[PICTURE(of gym equipment)]

- There are no current gym challenges although they have been looked at in the past.

- The atmosphere in the gym was good.

- The facilities are modern and clean throughout the building including corridors, changing rooms and toilets.

- There are no alternatives to using the Wellness system which will take time for the members to get the hang of it and the fitness team to get to grips with all that it can do to support attrition.

- The internal decor of the gym and studios is good throughout both sites.

[PICTURE]

[PICTURE]

- The loss of members is monitored every month although very little action is taken to convert the members back onto the membership.

- Action is not taken monthly to inspire the expired members to join the membership again by the centres.

- There is no clearly defined re-motivational strategy for members once they have decided to leave.

- The site feels the most important factors in retention to be:

- Improve changing rooms.

- Improve the social element of the service.

- More consistent and professional service.

- Other factors not mentioned were customer satisfaction and habit forming behaviour change and cleanliness.

- There was less awareness of customers adhering to the member journey, group exercise. Personal training, small group workouts, weight management and getting results through measurement for customers.

- The customer experience is considered by the site to be 5-6 on a scale of 1-10, 1 being poor and 10 outstanding but once in the gym a figure of 8-9.

- David Lloyd is considered as the best competitor in the area and is given a figure of 8/9.

- They were given that high score due to:

- Value for money.

- Individual service.

- Gym staff know names of customers.

- Well focussed product.

- When asked why they consider giving them this mark it was felt that the Barrhead Foundary leisure Centre and Eastwood leisure provided a better customer service plus they competed on:

- Price.

- Location.

- Convenience.

- Some competitors offer more variety, more choice and value for money. David Lloyd were a good example of the higher quality competition.

[PICTURE (David Lloyd East Renfrewshire)]

- It was felt that the current retention process was not working well although the TRP process was not embedded into the retention process.

- Members are not kept informed via a newsletter or similar communication.

- although the team have out in an induction process, it is poor.

- The process could be stronger by members following a clearer procedure starting with an induction, consultation, personal programme, follow up, review programme, ongoing reviews and consultations which are measured at each stage so that comparisons between sites can be made.

- The system being considered for retention as mentioned is TRP.

- Programmes are extensive and well docimented but give little indication of lifestyle opportunities or lifestyle elements that cross promote to other facilities such as the pool or group exercise.

[PICTURE (document form)]

- Programmes don’t reference other elements of an active lifestyle including group exercise, casual swimming and Swim fit programmes or nutrition.

- Personal training is not available or offered to customers.

- The life of a member is not measured.

- Exit interviews are not carried out with all expired members.

++ to be continued/ Income

++ continued

INCOME

- The total income for annuals and direct debit is currently running at the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre [REDEACTED] and Eastwood Leisure [REDACTED].

- The total annual income generated across the sites by direct debits and annual sales is [REDACTED].

- The following areas have not been looked at or set up for additional income:

- weight management

- core fitness

- Ski fitness

- Smoking cessation

- Shape Up for Summer

- Specialist education courses I.e. nutrition/back care

- Live active NHS pay out [REDACTED] per annum plus [REDACTED] support for Vitality classes.

EXPENDITURE (THE AREA WILL BE ANALYSED DURING THE MONTHLY SESSIONS AND AS PART OF THE MONTHLY KPI SHEET)

- How much is spent on sales staff?

- how many fitness staff do you have in the gym?

- How much is spent on fitness staff?

- How many hours are on gym floor hours?

- What is the total number of gym floor hours taken up by inductions and oyher appointments?

- How much is spent on the following?

- Utilities - gas, water and electricity

- Phone calls and rentals

- Stationary for gym

- Contract services on gym equipment

- Cleaning materials for the gym

- Licenses such as Sky TV, PRS and PPL

- Depreciation of equipment and the replacement of existing equipment

- The above questions can be discussed as part of a further partnership agreement.

MARKETING

- There are currently no marketing plan specific to health and fitness.

- Various amounts of research have been carried out to determine opportunities but not aware if these include demographic analysis using Experian demographics.

- Latent demand for sites is not known

- The sites are not working toward a promotional plan

- The promotional plan would include a social media plan

- It is not known if the organisation has carried out a social media audit

- It is thought that the organisation has produced a social media strategy

- A social media policy has been produced for the team

- Actual new sales on a monthly basis are not fed back to marketing to adjust performance going forward

- At the time of the audit a monthly campaign was in operation and clearly advertised on the website - 12 days of Christmas

- The most successful campaigns have been the 12 days of Christmas but not referral campaigns or £7 for 7 days

- There is not a clear understanding of campaign mechanics and how they are used on sites with all members of the team getting involved

- The emerging marketing themes (e.g. recession, the election) going forward have not yet been agreed and not used in the past

- The current market position is difficult to predict as there are many changes in place but a greater understanding of this position will need to be understood going forward

- Brands have not been analysed in relation to their product life cycle

- A pricing strategy has just taken place and the number of membership offers has been reduced

- There is not a PR strategy running across the sites

- The internal communication in terms of reporting needs looking at and will require further support and investigation

- There is a community engagement strategy in place for the sites with an exercise referral acheme which has the potential in helping more people take up a life of regular activity

- Google analytics are not used by sites to influence and affect decisions

- Search engine optimisation has been analysed and the necessary changes to the website have been made

- The sites are perceived to not be good at celebrating success and nor are testimonials used as much as they could be on site or on the website

- There are few ongoing promotions used to reduce barriers to entry such as one day passes and 7 day passes used by sites. Trial passes are not used, such as quarterly campaign where one month is free if they sign up for 12 months

CUSTOMER COMMENTS

- What do members say about the facility?

- The changing rooms look a bit dated particularly from ladies

- The staff are very friendly

- Value for money

- Clean and tidy

COMPETITION

- The competition in the area is high and has been identified by the teams as one of the key factors for members leaving the cerntres

- The main competitors within a 5 mile drivetime are:

- David Lloyd

- Nuffileld

- Parklands Private Club

- Fitness for Less

- Anytime Fitness

- Glasgow Club - Trust Glasgow Life

- Glasgow Fitness - Private

- Renfrewshire Leisure

- Two Boutique Operators

- The above operators each have their distinct way of differentiating themselves in the market whether on price, quality service or location

- They will be taking market share and it will be essential that East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust take action to reduce the effect on their own business

++ to be continued/ Operational consideration during audit