Phillip Mills - Ride High Magazine

Phillip Mills

The vital importance of appealing to millennials, the secret of Peloton’s success, and the best cycling boutiques in the world. The founder and MD of Les Mills International speaks to Kate Cracknell

OUR RESEARCH SHOWS 83 PER CENT OF THOSE WHO HAVE GYM MEMBERSHIPS ALSO EXERCISE AT HOME

Boutiques in particular have really captured the millennial taste and this is key to their success, not least because millennials now account for a huge proportion of the fitness market: Les Mills recently commissioned a new study from Qualtrix – surveying 18,000 people across 22 countries – which found that 79 per cent of people doing gym-type activities are either millennials (those aged up to 37 years) or post-millennials (those aged up to 23 years).

1Rebel Victoria is “setting the standard for clubs around the world”, according to Mills

So, while running, boxing, HIIT, yoga and so on are all opportunities for traditional clubs when it comes to in-house boutique spaces, definitely, the most logical place to start would be upgrading existing cycling studios: upgrading the décor, the AV, the programming, the instructor quality by paying for rockstars... If you have great content, great teachers and a great space, you become competitive again.