01
2010217211
14:28
Page 1
December 2010
The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine
Opportunities as well as challenges
Staff learn of closure in posted P45s By Christina Eccles A SHOCKED fitness instructor has spoken out after the gym she worked at closed suddenly – without any warning to staff or members. The Nuyuu club in Livingston closed its doors at the end of October with debts of over £2m. Pamela Brown taught classes there and she told Workout, although she had heard rumours that it was closing, she had been given no formal notification – until she received her P45 in the post. She explained: “I had heard rumours about a possible closure, but when I phoned to ask what was happening, all of the staff were in the dark. All they knew was there would be a meeting on the Monday and we'd know what would happen then. However on the Friday morning we all received a P45 through the post, no letter of explanation was attached to it.” Pamela also worked at the club when it belonged to LA Fitness and she added that she isn’t shocked it closed down, although she is surprised at how suddenly it did. She added: “In all honesty I'm not
surprised it closed. Since Nuyuu took over, they had done very little to promote the club outside of its facilities. “They took away the swimming pool and were supposed to replace it with a weights area that never happened. A lot of members left when the swimming pool disappeared. They reduced the membership prices but people soon found out that things they had previously as an LA Fitness member they would have to pay over and above as a Nuyuu member. What I am surprised about was the speed it closed at.” Pamela revealed she had also spoken to former members who were also left stunned by the closure. “Having spoken to a few of them, they are very surprised by the speed of it all, more surprised that none of the Livingston staff were informed of what was happening and were as much in the dark as the members.” Angry members have also vented their fury on Nuyuu’s Facebook page, branding the company ‘cowards’ and a ‘disgrace’. The club – backed by Dragon’s Den star James Caan – was one of five gyms under the Nuyuu branding – the other four have been bought by the Energie Group.
No 207 £3
The NoVAT4Gyms petition has been delivered to Number 10 Downing Street as independent operators continue the fight for a level playing field. The document was handed over by independent gym owner Angela Lee and Wayne Heath from Club Manager on behalf of a number of independent clubs who are appealing to the government to remove VAT from gym memberships across the whole industry.
THE government’s Consumer Spending Review presents both challenges and opportunities for those working in health and fitness, according to a key industry figure. Results included cuts of about 30 per cent for Sport England and UK Sport and ring fenced public health budgets for local authorities. But, the FIA’s executive director David Stalker claims although there are challenges ahead, there are also opportunities. He said: “As expected, there have been blows to our industry – notably in the squeeze on local government funding and the end of central funding for the PE and Sports Strategy, but there are opportunities too. “The ring-fenced public health budgets mean those who are geared up to delivering services with demonstrable health outcomes could benefit and the investment in apprenticeships present an opportunity for our sector to benefit from training and development. “For those who are bold and creative in the provision of public services, the environment has never been more receptive to new ways of approaching the challenges we now face."