LETTERS
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Fuel the debate about issues and opportunities across the industry. We’d love to hear from you – letters@leisuremedia.com
Do what you can to give people exceptional, memorable experiences that support their health
As an industry, the pandemic has made us reconsider whether we’re truly driven by customer needs. We should celebrate this unprecedented opportunity to innovate the quality of our offers as it could play a huge part in creating a more meaningful industry – if we embrace it. The pandemic has forced us all out of its habit of building offers driven by products and supply chain. I think we can all agree this was an outdated practice and certainly one that didn’t serve our customers. Consumer habits and values have changed. We need to create experiences that reflect what people really want from their leisure providers. And we must show members that everyone in the business has bought into these efforts. We’ve made a conscious shift from just showing up as a leisure provider to being a true partner for people’s health and wellbeing. A massive amount of our marketing team’s time 12
Issue 11 2021 ©Cybertrek 2021
PHOTO: DENBIGHSHIRE LEISURE
Jamie Groves Denbighshire Leisure
is now focused on giving value and checking in with members – all the softer stuff we as an industry perhaps neglected before the pandemic. And by making sure our staff were looked after right through the crisis, we gave members a familiar and highly-motivated workforce to come back to. We’re anticipating being back at pre-COVID levels of membership by January 2022, but there are more important things than the numbers – it’s about developing industry-leading experiences. We found that going the extra mile reaps rewards. This can be seen at
Club Nova (above) and X20 are both delivering growing returns
our Club Nova and X20 sites which are giving us the biggest membership growth and from the results of investing in our restaurants and cafés – including setting up partnerships with Costa and other brands – which has created the fastest-growing revenue stream in the company. Our members are highly engaged and have confidence in our promise to them. We achieve this by making a big commitment to them and to our staff and our messaging.
