Making a difference and Merry Christmas

A few weeks ago I raised the issue of a BHF report condemning the fact leisure centres offered unhealthy food options. I remember thinking at the time that this was a thorny issue and that perhaps we might be guilty of this, to a lesser or greater extent.

However, having obtained some fantastic feedback from over 20 individual leisure centres and a number of the Contract management groups (a big thank you to every one of you, because your feed back was invaluable), I realise that we have no reason to be apologetic.

We met with the BHF earlier this week and told them that

• 100% of respondents told us that they offer healthy food options

• 25% do not offer chips or chocolates and only retail healthy drinks

• 65% offer low sugar/low fat foods, as well as non-fat fried crisps

What was interesting was the fact that Consumer choose to buy:

• 25-40% more Coke than health drinks

• 66-100% more chocolate bars than health bars

These were the facts. But more importantly was the issue of effecting behavioural change. A very strong theme in all the responses was the fact that we cannot force consumers to eat healthily. We must allow them to choose to do so by underpinning choice options with engaging and informative education. As one respondent said, “Removing choice drives them round the corner to satisfy their needs – after all, prohibition didn’t stop Americans drinking alcohol in the 30s.”

The arguments were compelling and BHF could not fault the logic. To give you a feel for the responses:

o “Whilst we can influence people’s purchasing choices, we do need to meet our customer’s needs.”

o “.......we mustn’t patronise them or force their choice.”

o “We cannot force our customers to buy something they personally do not find appealing”

o “....foods like chips, pizzas and burgers sell more. If these were taken off the menu then the cafe would close.”

o “There is no question that cutting income received through vending machines would directly affect the service we would be able to offer. During lean economic times perceived luxuries, such as leisure centre membership, are often the first costs to be looked at by families and therefore maximising income in the current climate is of paramount importance.”

The good news is that the BHF has agreed to work closer with us moving forward – at FIA CMO/BHF Associate Medical Director level: giving us sight of future reports before they are publicized: offering to help us develop guidelines for POI/POS.

Addressing adverse commentary is half the battle: preventing negative commentary is the other half so with the New Year around the corner and in anticipation of the media backlash as per my last blog entry, get those case studies over as quick as possible. The BHF response shows that when we unite together we will be listened to.

Finally this is it from me until January so wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Tonight is the Promote PR Christmas party I suspect the BHF would not rejoice at the much anticipated excesses we will all enjoy but hey Ho it Christmas, time for the “Calorie in” brigade to rejoice!

David Stalker

Executive Director at the FIA

LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK

‘Exercise in middle age can cause arthritis’ screamed the headline and sure enough, some PhD in California decided that after talking to 236 45-55 year olds, over exercising caused most damage to their knees – therefore“...a high risk factor...” for arthritis.


Walking, sports and even gardening could trigger osteoarthritis – the learned PhD went on to conclude.

The common sense rebuttal was as compelling as it was forthright “We have known for years that certain high impact sports and jobs are associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis ...but for the vast majority of people exercise is good...it’s a matter of balance and sensible moderation .....The risk of developing osteoarthritis as a result of too much exercise is outweighed by the risk of being overweight and sedentary.”

Job done, the response came from ‘a spokesperson for the Arthritis Research Campaign’.

As I read this two things struck me:

- I am so sick of reading shock-horror claims, based on some spurious research, from a thesis-writing-publicity-hungry ‘expert’, based on counter-intuitive thinking ... such as exercise is bad for you..... Exercise has no effect on obese children..... Leisure centres should be banned from offering chips (even though they also offer lots of fruit & veg choices and their customers would just go down the road to buy their chips anyway!)

- Why do the media give these guys airtime/column inches?

I guess it’s the price we pay for democracy.

However, what was particularly pleasing about this article was that the rebuttal did not come from someone in our sector (and therefore be dismissed with the ‘well, you would say that wouldn’t you’ claim), but from a third party expert.

If ever I needed proof that we have to point our CMO at all the Royal Colleges and disease NGOs to ensure that they promote the benefits of exercise on our behalf, this was it. So John (Searle, our Chief Medical Officer), get on your bike and keep pedalling until all our ‘strategic partners’ do as good a job as the Arthritis Research Campaign.

The strongest and most compelling cases are often the case studies and real life changing stories that are common place in our industry. So with New Year approaching and the inevitable press backlash at all things fitness, please send in your stories and help your governing body drive forward the Fitness industry as the most important part of the UK’s health agenda.

David Stalker
Executive Director
Fitness Industry Association

Well Done all you UK Fitness Industry People!

Last week I was in Brussels attending and presenting to an EHFA meeting – The European Health and Fitness Association (EHFA) is, as its name suggests, the European version of the FIA.....they have even adopted our strap line ‘more people
more active
more often’.

Two things struck me:


1. How much we, as in the UK Fitness industry do- because my five minute slot just wasn’t nearly long enough to cover all the initiatives (from MoreActive4Life to Fit For the Future, to go, etc) that we collectively deliver.

I know we live in the age of the sound bite, but five minutes and five slides was really pushing it. From the role of the CMO, to FLAME winners, to the TwentyTen Commission (our sector wide five year strategy development initiative), we are a busy bunch.


2. Our European peers were amazed and envious at our relationship with Government, the DH, the Health Secretary, as well as the Shadow Secretaries.

We were also interviewed by a German/European trade publication (Health and Beauty) and they too were enormously impressed at what we have achieved in the UK. They will be interviewing the German Health Minister in the next few weeks and will be citing our campaigns and programmes as an example of what a fully rounded and integrated a public health strategy could look like.


We talked about the US model and the journalist very rightly pointed out that while it is a more mature market, their industry has yet to plan and implement a national campaign like MoreActive4Life – probably, he suggested, because their trade body only tends to represent the private sector, unlike the FIA, which represents both public and private operators.


As a great man once said, sometimes it’s good to stop and admire the scenery behind you, before turning and gazing at the mountain face ahead of you.

 
David Stalker, COO at the FIA

Is the Fitness Industry coming of age?

Given the fact that blogs are meant to be a direct and informal communication between two people - the blogger and the reader - I have to tell you about the week I've just had because it is a testimony to how far we have come as an industry. To me, these were rays of hope which eclipsed the clouds of recession which haunt us.


In the last seven days, I have met with one of the oldest and most respected food brands in the world. This was followed by a meeting with one of the world's leading sports brands. The next day I met with a multi-million pound conglomerate which works with the Government at in a number of different sectors - from health and education to prisons. On Friday I have a meeting with a gold standard celebrity: what all these meetings have in common is the fact that every single one of them want to partner with our industry.

As I sat in a traffic jam yesterday, quietly fuming because I should have been at my weekly meeting with my management team, I had to take some comfort from the fact that 20 years ago, when I started as a trainer in our industry, these global stars would have not given us the time of day. I never dreamed I would one day be representing a multi-billion pound industry in meetings where the Secretary of State was promoting exercise as the way forward for the health of the nation. It never occurred to me, all those years ago, that the potential Government-in-waiting would invite us to contribute to their public health strategy process.

However, there is nothing quite like the cool sharp shock of reality when faced by the soul destroying prospect of sitting in stationary traffic (when you don’t want to be). As any manager of a sales team knows, the euphoria of salesmen has to be divided by two, and then by four in order to get to the truth. The truth for this salesman is that we have some very significant brands who want to do business with us, but we still need to close the deal.

That’s my job, so beware of COO’s blogs painting rosy pictures of the future.

Wait for the punchline.

David Stalker
COO
Fitness Industry Association

FIA delivering more campaigns

So SIBEC Europe is over for another year and this was the third and busiest I have attended since I began working with the FIA.

Having attended over 20 meetings and made many more contacts it has been incredibly productive to inform both FIA members and those that are not (yet!) of the great work being carried out by the FIA from protecting the industry to delivering more campaigns so we can increase the industries penetration rate.
So what are the next steps?

Well over 500 FIA members are taking part in the Department of Health’s ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign which begins nationally on Monday 16th November. The campaign highlights and educates the general public on the number of units that they consume daily, weekly and how this affects their health. FIA members who have signed up to the campaign have received free collateral packs with information leaflets to use in the clubs and centres as well as t-shirts for staff to wear and educational information they can learn from to deliver to their members.

This to me is a fantastic example of how clubs / centres utilise their membership with the FIA to deliver a Department of Health campaign that works as a retention tool to help add diversity to members programmes and the information they receive. It targets lifestyle changes and position the clubs and centres at the hub of community wellness programmes.

Year 2 of MoreActive4life is also in place to begin January 1st 2010 with the creation of the More Active Health kits from Mend.


The More Active Health kits are a 64 page programme offering 3 exercise and 7 nutritional activities over 6 weeks the general public can engage in their everyday lifestyle. Whether it’s drinking 8 glasses of water or completing 30 minutes of exercise daily the programme is delivered in a way which recognises and promotes behavioural changes.

The More Active Health Kit includes wristbands (I haven’t taken mine off for two weeks and is a great reminder of what I should be doing), key rings, 64 page diary and physical activity wheel. For more information contact Alex Smith.

Delivered over a 6 week period clubs and centres can use the programme to attract new or re-awaken existing members through the change4life branding which research has now shown to have a 90% recall rate.

Richard Blackmore
Sales & Membership Director
Fitness Industry Association

Meeting of minds in Croatia

I must be getting old. I’ve just returned from SIBEC in Croatia and I have added ‘meetings fatigue’ – as opposed to just the ‘traditional’ fatigue usually induced by the inevitable excess which accompanies any industry event to my list of post event ailments.
Twenty meetings in two days is a lot – ask Richard Blackmore who was too ‘fatigued’ .......... but that’s another story.

I met some smart people, some good people, some dreamers and thankfully, no time wasters. But there was one meeting which really excited me, not only because the guys were interesting and had a clear idea of what they wanted and how ‘it would work’, but because the outcome will be a significant milestone for our industry.

The meeting was with Craig McAteer, Chairman of SPORTA (the trade body for the leisure trusts and social enterprises in the culture and leisure sectors) and Ian Kendall another SPORTA executive. True Blaine Dodds sits on the FIA Board and passionately represents the views of the Trusts however, this was probably the first time our two organisations have sat round a table and focused entirely on how we could work together to grow the industry’s market share and consolidate our ‘public health delivery partner’ status.

To give this meeting context Blaine, as part of the FIA Board, focuses on a wide spectrum of issues – from Governance and strategic issues, to financial accountability. However, the last time our two organisations sat around the table and brainstormed more tactical delivery plans was probably when someone at the FIA thought that we needed a SPORTA representative on the Board. That was before Change4Life redefined our industry’s relationship with Government and before there was greater acknowledgement of the role of our industry in the minds and strategies of those responsible for ‘disease prevention’.

Its early days yet but I am really excited by the thought of SPORTA and the FIA really turning our individual talents into a highly effective collective campaign and helping both sets of members achieve their own corporate goals whilst beginning a new era for both our organisations and our industry, just listening to Craig and Ian gave me a great insight on how much we can all learn from there success in delivering quantifiable positive health changes to the heart of communities.

That, I’m afraid is another sign of age ...... being excited about two trade bodies working together.

Is there no hope for me!

David Stalker
COO
Fitness Industry Association

Healthy choice the food debate rumbles on

The responses to my last blog about the BHF conclusion that leisure centres they surveyed offer “... a barrage of unhealthy products through vending machines and junk food meal deals...” have been flowing in thick and fast. The overall mood is that in an ideal world they would be right, but we live in a world of real people, who want to and like to make their own choices.

To gain a better understanding of the issue we are conducting our own survey of leisure centres and, despite trying to be impartial, our findings add a lot more ‘colour’ and realism to the issue. For example, visitors are offered both ‘healthy foods’ and, what the BHF would deem “unhealthy foods”. As we start to unpick this conundrum we realise that a simple “unhealthy = bad= out” is an unrealistic equation and not one that can be used by organisations that are involved in the commercial delivery of exercise/activity.


It is as unrealistic and untenable as suggesting that GPs should cease prescribing medication to anyone who does not achieve their 5 x 30 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. So let’s not get lost in the ether of hypothetical debate.


Our research has shown that:


• Facilities have to sell “..quick food which is affordable...”
• Menu choice is key, which is why food, snacks and drinks from both ends of the spectrum are offered
• Healthy living and”..holistic positive life choices..” are promoted
• Low fat/healthy snacks and low-sugar drinks, as well as fruit juices and smoothes are offered extensively, as are fresh fruit and vegetables
• Baking v deep fat frying is extensively used
• Some places don’t sell “fizzy drinks” or crisps at all


But perhaps the most compelling feedback was from a Manager who said “... the vending machines support the cafe operation which does offer healthy products – which do not sell. The so called ‘unhealthy’ foods, like chips, pizzas and burgers sell much more (than ‘healthy’ foods). If these were taken off the menu then the cafe would close.”

That is the issue. We must give our visitors a choice, but we cannot force them to make the ‘right choice’.


As someone commented, “It’s naive to hold the ‘healthy school meal’ example as one we should follow because the reality is those most at risk simply stopped eating school meals and instead, went round the corner to the fish and chip shop.

“We must not patronise or force this choice.”


Another interesting decision is that in one location, fizzy drinks outsold energy drinks by up to 50% a day and chocolate bars outsold healthy bars by 150% a day.

Is it wrong to offer a choice and let consumers make their own decision? Or should we make that decision for them and introduce our own era of prohibition?


On December 8th I will meet the BHF and need to present a balanced industry view ....... so what would you like me to tell them?

David Stalker, COO at the FIA

Active places and junk food deals

Yesterday I received a press release from the British Heart Foundation with the results of a survey of 35 Leisure Centres stating that “... places where kids go to get fit and active ... undermine the fight against childhood obesity by offering kids a barrage of unhealthy products through vending machines and junk food meal deals.”


The researchers found that vending machine “... stocked products loaded with fats, salts and sugars which cannot be advertised on children’s TV or sold in school vending machines ......... Fresh fruit was displayed at less than half of the venues visited and children’s meal deals were awash with fried food options including chips, nuggets, sausages and burgers all of which have been significantly restricted in schools....”

My first reaction was to play the ‘choice’ card – we must not impose our values on others and, if they chose to buy these foods, then we can’t really stop them.

My second reaction was to play the ’recession’ card – it’s a tough operating climate, so operators should optimise all their revenue generating potential.

If we don’t sell them sweets, they’ll just go round the corner and buy them.

My third was to look at a Mandelson-like ‘spin’ – it all about calories in and calories out. It’s OK to eat ‘unhealthy’ food as long as you burn those calories.But deep down I knew all three arguments were morally wrong. If we are serious about playing our role as community health partners, who are part of the Government’s wellbeing delivery team, then we have to have to have a good, long and very honest look at what we do, what we say and behave accordingly.

In a couple of weeks time it will be National Obesity Week and we, the FIA, will be at the House of Commons sharing a platform with MEND, the children’s obesity specialist, as well as 65 children who are being celebrated for having made the necessary changes and tackled their own obesity issues and are now using their experience to help their peers. This is all part of a national strategy to address the breath taking fact that by 2050 9 in every 10 children will be overweight or obese.

Judging by the recent survey our front doors say “We’re here to help. We can help you solve this problem....” But our back door seems to be saying “...But we have to make a living, so you can buy some unhealthy food if you want to.”

I know as a trade body we are here to reflect your views and your interest: and I know that the survey findings applies to only some of the facilities in our camp but, as an organisation which represents the broad church which is our industry, my duty is to raise the issue and allow you to debate it.

Whatever we do, we should be consistent. Like the Co Op and other ethical brands (which is where we want to be if we want to play the wellbeing card), we have to look at every aspect of our operation – from our green energy policies to our healthy food options.

I know you have a business to run and revenue to generate, but perhaps the BHF report is a valuable traffic light, rather than an irritating output of an NGO.

Dave Stalker
COO
Fitness Industry Association

FLAME Awards 2010

We in the FIA Events department are experiencing that annual buzz that comes with the entry stage of the FLAME awards – it’s great how enthusiastic all manner of facilities have been already about the FLAME process.  The main question on everyone’s lips at the moment is: “How can we WIN??”  Well obviously we can’t answer that question – cheating is certainly not a quality that we look for in a FLAME winner…  But to help you on your way this year, we will be running FLAME Training Workshops (run by our very own FLAME assessors), which will be invaluable in learning tips on what Fitness Leadership & Management Excellence really looks like.  The workshop not only offers a great opportunity to grasp a real understanding of the ins and outs of the FLAME process, but it will also act as a consultation session for your facility (regardless of whether you enter the awards or not).  Our distinguished FLAME assessors; Tory Brettell and Rebecca Weissbort, are well-known experts in the industry (internationally) with over 40 years of experience between them at all levels in creating, assessing and coaching excellence – a session with them will revitalise your business!  These workshops will run in December 09 – January 10 – call 020 7420 8578 for further details or visit the website.

As always there is lots going on at the FIA at the moment; a new batch of seminars on Exercise and Nutrition launch next week, our Fit For the Future programme is being reviewed by number 10, go is steadily expanding across counties and the MoreActive4Life campaign is nearly ready to go…

Lisa Taylor (from MEND) came to visit us last week to brief the team on the material that has been put together for the MoreActive4Life 2010 Campaign – it really is amazing and motivating stuff!  I’m genuinely excited about the campaign (all of the tools that accompany it are spot on!) and can’t wait to be a campaign guinea pig!  I hope the rest of the industry is as enthusiastic about this as I am and we really can oversee a behaviour change nationally that sees exercise becoming a habit rather than a chore.

Hayley Bevan

Events and Sponsorship Manager 

Fitness Industry Association

Letter to The Times

Helen Rumbelow's recent article on the role of exercise in the fight against obesity ('Exercise? A fat lot of good that is if you want to lose weight',19 0ctober) correctly outlines the health benefits of exercise in terms of reducing depression, heart disease, diabetes and a host of other lifestyle diseases, but it goes on to give credence to what many believe are misleading and distracting propositions which undermine the hard work of many parents, healthcare and exercise professionals.  

Weight loss should not be the only measure of health and wellbeing. If it was the Holy Grail (as suggested by some researchers quoted in the article), then a severely underweight adult or child would be considered healthy. The truth is eating the right food and taking regular exercise should be that Holy Grail for every man, woman and child. 

As a major contributor to the wellbeing debate and a successful Government delivery partner, we believe that it is erroneous to focus solely on either food/'calories in' or exercise/'calories out'. Every organisation, with a sincere interest in trying to help address problems associated with our health time bomb, now agrees that the focus should be on promoting the benefits of an integrated strategy which addresses both sides of the wellbeing equation, not on spurious monochromatic observations on a complex multi-coloured issue.

Everyone deserves the right to be heard, but sometimes the white noise can be distracting.

David Stalker

COO

Fitness Industry Association

Hollywood and the Future of Health and Fitness

I am not a political person but even I get caught up in the excitement of Party Conferences – especially the last one before an election.


When we come to write the history of our sector, this administration will go down as the one which helped to put activity on the health map – a factual observation not a political comment. I guess that’s why I feel a bit like Captain Kirk on USS Enterprise: the FIA’s goal is to boldly go (into the healthcare and wellbeing universe) where no fitness trade body has been before. Our challenge, should we accept it, is to use the last two years as a springboard to really establish ourselves as a public health delivery partner which has proved itself and can do more.


This is why the Party Conferences have so interested me. I’ve tried to look for the bits which would give me some indication of where our agenda (more people more active more often) fits into the bigger issues. The post apocalyptic agenda was understandably dominated by what Boris called the ‘Leper colony’ in the City and MPs with a liberal interpretation of expenses. There was talk of jobs (yes!): green (perhaps): transport/housing/security (OK): schools and sport (yes) and, in the midst of all the grand strategies, there was talk of the NHS and health (brilliant).


My remit, irrespective of who is in power, is to make our sector more valuable to those who care for and are responsible for the ‘health of the nation’ and that means more money for MoreActive4Life, Fit For The Future, go and the other ‘wellbeing’ initiatives we’ve developed and our members run.


I guess our message is clear. We’ve proved we can make a difference, now give us the tools (or cash) to finish the job.


Finally, there is a prize for the person who spots the most references to films in my blog.


David Stalker - FIA Chief Operating Officer

Welcome to the HCS goodbye ParQs

From a professional point of view that must have been the most successful LIW I/we have ever had.



From a personal perspective, it was both exhilarating and exhausting! I have to admit that as I drove away on Thursday evening, I realised that age has sneaked up on me and robbed me of my stamina and ability to recover instantly. I felt some empathy with the yogurt I got out of the fridge when I got home that was both past its sell by and use by date.

Talking of age, consensus seem to be that our 15 year old PARQ is probably no longer quite ‘fit for purpose’ (there’s that phrase again) – especially in a post MoreActive4Life world. Over the past few months we have had many conversations with operators who have told us that ParQs no longer reflect either current government policy, or legal trends in terms of moving the primary responsibility for people’s health back to individuals, as opposed to it being the sole domain of corporates and service delivery organisations.

That is why the FIA Standards team developed the ‘Health Commitment Statement’ (or, as we all like our acronyms, the HCS). This simplified ‘wellbeing assessment’ questionnaire will help close the gap between us and the healthcare community, whilst helping consumers by removing artificial barriers to using our facilities and getting fit. In the course of developing the HCS, we have worked with the medical sector, legal teams, health and safety experts, operators ...all the specialists you can imagine have seen it and approved it. So if you want to know more about HCS and/or want to get hold of it, all you have to do is email Pete Wells on pete@fia.org.uk


For those of you who have kindly given me advice on how to ‘manage’ Dillon (my red setter who is the able co-Author of these blogs), I’m afraid the phrases “No”, “Stay”, “heel” etc seem to have little equivalents in his world, however a well timed “chase” on spotting a deer, fox, rabbit or pheasant or “sniff” when any female dog is within a mile seem to work a treat.


Any other tips most welcome.

David Stalker, FIA Chief Operating Officer

New Website Launched - Feedback Please?

Well Leisure Industry Week is over for another year and following months of hard work from the staff at LIW and the FIA I think we can confidently say it was a true success. In fact don’t take my word for it:

‘I just wanted to say a really big thank you to the FIA team for all the hard work at LIW...really well done chaps and pass on our thanks from the Trixter team’ Patrick Murray, MD Trixter Europe Ltd.

Luan Underwood, MD of Fitness TV had this to say, ‘We had a thoroughly enjoyable time and have made some extremely promising leads and useful contacts. The stand and supporting signage were super and exceeded expectations. I would also like to extend an applause to the rest of your team who all, without exception, seemed to work really hard, entirely professionally and with an unfailing smile on their faces.’

Launched at LIW was the new FIA website to be found at http://www.fia.org.uk/. So what is new on the site?

• Well the FIA gym finder now has the functionality to allow the general public to directly send an enquiry through to an FIA member club/centre. Great news to help generate more footfall into our industry and an added benefit of FIA membership.
• The marketing doughnut is also up and running on the site which allows all members to access expert knowledge on how best to market their club in these tough times. The doughnut is updated twice a week with new ideas and best practice and should become a major tool for club owners and sales managers in their business strategy.

Over the coming months the FIA website will continue to evolve to attract both the consumer and the industry and increase the information and tools available for everyone. But far from thinking we know it all I would like to hear from all sectors of the industry about what you would like to see on the site and what would help you in the day to day running of your club or centre.


I received valuable feedback from independents, trusts, multi site operators and suppliers while at LIW and now we can start use that feedback to ensure your trade body is offering what you need. However let’s not let it stop there if you have positive or challenging comments (I actually love these because it directs me the way you want the industry to go) please contact me and let’s continue to ensure the FIA offering improves and you get value for membership.


Richard Blackmore - FIA Sales and Marketing Director

Leisure Industry Week Announcements

LIW looms like the Kilimanjaro peak on my horizon. To all my fellow exhibitors, I hope you have a great LIW – may all your enquiries be great leads. To all visitors, I hope you have a great time and, having spoken to quite a few exhibitors, I know you will walk away with at least three good ideas. This year’s LIW is a big one for us for three major reasons:



1. We will announce the results of the 2009 MoreActive4Life campaign
2. We will unveil our new CMO
3. We will launch the next generation of MoreActive4Life: a proposition developed with the obesity specialists MEND, which will give every FIA member an exciting new consumer proposition and a new tactic to leverage the Change4Life connection.


John Searle, our new CMO, must be unique in our industry having an illustrious medical career behind him, a Level 3 qualification and he was a former arthritis sufferer who cured himself through exercise (and a few drugs). John is critical in the FIA’s/ industry’s medical community ‘engagement plan’. If we can overcome their lack of knowledge of the benefits of “exercise medicine” and perhaps even whatever prejudices they have, then we really will have a 360 Degree solution to the nation’s public health time bomb – a solution comprising the DH, the FIA, programme developers (such as MEND), FIA members and ‘referers’ ie the healthcare community. That would be brilliant for consumers and very lucrative for FIA members (if we get it right).

I am now off, in a packed car, to head up the M40 with mission critical collateral in my keep. God help me if I break, lose, misplace or damage anything..... I will have to suffer the wrath of Hayley, our Events manager .......... for three full days! Day and evening!!


David Stalker, FIA Chief Operating Officer

Post Holiday Blues and Pre LIW Madness...

With LIW just around the corner the FIA office is buzzing accordingly with anticipation and preparation. Next week is a little different to the norm - with a sports beach, hosted buyer programme, fitness zone… Congrats to the LIW boys!



This last week has been a busy one for me; having just returned from a glorious holiday in the Algarve in a relaxed a smiley mood, I drove straight into the events planning turmoil and have duly forgotten that I’ve been away at all… The fading remnants of a hard-fought-for tan are all that remains!

From Monday morning my feet have barely touched the ground and as always, the scales of work/home life never balance themselves out – Instead of returning home to a cosy sofa, Eastenders, glass of wine and a stir-fry (my preferred school-night activity), I’ve been plunging a ceaselessly blocking toilet (not our own doing I assure you!), screaming at a dying laptop (which melodramatically keeps showing me the “blue screen of DEATH!”), wondering how on earth people got by before the internet existed, and desperately trying to learn the language of the “Computer Geeks” in order to communicate with those funny salesmen on Tottenham Court Road who are trying to sell me a new laptop! As a high point to the week I had some great meetings with Keiser and Cybex, who are set to support the FIA through 2010.

Despite the frantic nature of the week I am confident that our various events at LIW next week will be a success – our Drinks Reception on Tuesday night has been highly subscribed to (in fact it is totally full to bursting point). This will be a great chance for Health & Fitness to gather, chat, drink & nibble – all thanks to our lovely, generous sponsors; Fitness TV and Matrix!

I am pleased to say that I think this week’s storm is finally calming and I hope that the FIA staff BBQ this evening will vanquish any remaining knots of stress and bring me back to holiday mode!

Hayley Bevan - FIA Events and Sponsorship Manager

Are we fit for purpose?

As Dillon (my Red Setter) disappeared into the horizon and totally ignored my whistle, my bellowing and even my swearing, the phrase ‘fit for purpose’ kept ringing in my head. Despite all my training, this dog was definitely not fit for purpose!!

You might think that that was a strange way to describe my dog, but I have just spent the entire previous day in a room full of the brightest and most creative brains in our industry discussing whether we, as an industry, we are ‘fit for purpose’ and what, if anything we have to do to make us so.

My head was full of snippets of conversations such as “...where do we, as an industry, want to be in five years time....how do we get there....do we have the right skills sets to get there and deliver when we do .........if we don’t, what are the skills sets we need.....if we want to be a ‘government delivery partner, are we “fit for purpose”...its no wonder that I needed a calming walk with Dillon after all that.

Next year the FIA will be celebrating its 20 anniversary, so what better time (some bright spark said) to think about developing a five year plan for the industry? The argument is that we could either, just drift along and ‘evolve’ OR we could take control of our destiny, decide where we think we want to be and develop a collective plan to make it happen.

Why? Well, most people accept that the industry has hit a glass ceiling – around 12% market penetration - and most accept that ‘exercise medicine’ is a great opportunity to break through that glass ceiling. But are we fit-for-purpose (that phrase again) in terms of professional skills, people skills, programmes, facilities etc? Can we get financial help from the government to help us evolve? These are the conversations we want to have with the industry. Last week was the 1ST step and now the FIA secretariat needs to work with the commissionaires over the course of the next 8-10 months to pull together the facts, statistics, wants, desires and opportunities. If you want to be involved and our going to LIW then call in at the FIA Moreactive4life lounge and have a chat.

Do we do a Dillon and spend lots of energy chasing spectres, or do we have a plan and gently move in a direction which will benefit every single organisation in our sector?

Speaking of LIW, whilst I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at the FIA Lounge next I think we should all spare a thought for the hundreds of people slaving away to make sure that deadlines are met and that everyone has a great show.

Back to important issues......... where is that blasted dog!

David Stalker, FIA Chief Operating Officer

FIA Campaigns and Programmes - Get on board!

Having joined the Campaigns and Programmes Department at the FIA a few short months ago, it is amazing the amount of exciting stuff we have on at the moment. We have created a new flagship campaign—moreactive4life—that launched this summer. Year 1 of this 3-year campaign has taught us a lot: from the importance of helping our members with community engagement, to the media’s love of overweight bus drivers running on treadmills. I think what this campaign showed me was that our industry is great at marketing, but not necessarily at grassroots organisation. Approaching your local doctor’s office or supermarket is a challenge when it is often the first introduction they have had to our sector. I have been on the phone with nearly a thousand members these past few months, and everyone is saying the same thing: how do we foster local relationships with small businesses, doctors, schools, and families?

So our department is also shifting its focus at the moment. While we will continue to deliver our national campaigns, we also want to help our members engage with their community. This is at the heart of sustaining our sector, and ultimately the thing that makes even a national campaign something really special. This is also what the FIA does best—programmes like ‘go’ and ‘active at school’ bring students (and their families) into our clubs and introduce fitness in a non-traditional and fun way (P.E. is great, but what P.E. class offers Pilates or spinning?). So this is about making fitness fun. This is also about getting into your local GP’s office and explaining how you can help out. This is about partnering with your local pub to showcase how a circuit workout can burn off that pint you just downed. This is about our sector becoming a logical partner for a community’s health and wellbeing—and more foot-fall across your floor means more people, more active, more often.

I am really excited about the upcoming changes, so watch this space!

Matt Reents - FIA Programme Manager

How is the FIA assisting its members?

So this is my first entry into the world of blogging and it offers me the fantastic opportunity to open a two way conversation with FIA members.

Over the coming months I will be talking about the successes FIA member benefits has delivered to our members both operators and suppliers and also ask what more the industry is looking for from it trade body.

Over the last year we have seen members benefit substantially from the FIA collective purchasing scheme that is now place saving thousands of pounds on business services ranging from stationary to utilities. FIA Business Services is currently finalising a basket energy agreement that will help all members large or small access even greater savings on their electricity for the future.

We are now also coming to the end of the first moreactive4life campaign. For those of you who do not know this is the industry’s sub brand for the department of health’s change 4life campaign.

Over July and August over one thousand FIA members have taken advantage of the free collateral and national exposure to generate hundreds of extra enquires for the facilities as well as using the campaign to manage retention.

Now we are starting to build for year two, looking to develop new marketing channels to expose moreactive4life to an even wider audience. I will keep you updated on how this develops and more importantly how you can be involved.

Richard Blackmore - FIA Sales and Marketing Director

The FIA Flame Conference

Most will be aware that the FIA recently pulled off the mammoth task of launching the first ever Flame Conference. As a first attempt I think all will agree that it did what it said on the tin and was a success. Granted, there were hiccups and unexpected episodes, but all in all people were educated, fed, watered and serenaded by none other by the legend that is James Brown (who knew he was a white guy?). So, moving forwards the challenge is to replicate, improve and exceed expectations for the Flame Conference 2010… suggestions anyone please? I have recently discovered that squeezing 900 fit and healthy people into one room for a formal occasion is not something that many venues aspire to, thereby making the search for a conference and Ball of Fire venue something of an obstacle. But obstacles were made to be overcome and it is somewhere on the way over that hurdle that the epiphany of a “marquee” presented itself – how exciting! So it would seem we are getting there and bit by bit the plan for 2010 is coming together and looking rather attractive at that! However, I would like to make a plea to all hotels, stadiums, racecourses and universities across the UK – BUILD BIGGER ROOMS, THE FITNESS INDUSTRY NEEDS YOU!

Hayley Bevan - Events and Sponsorship Manager

Yes Prime Minister - FIA Public Affairs

It’s quite exciting to make my first post. No doubt, there will be countless more. Many posts will relate to the happenings in Whitehall, Westminster and the corridors of power in the devolved assemblies. Others will draw attention to the local projects and programmes that are putting the policy theory I spend my days pontificating on into practice.

There will be times when my inane thoughts are of no interest at all! The beauty of this blog is that you will be able to tell me. I will do my best to respond to comments and point you towards other sources of information that you might find more interesting. All I would ask is that you keep it clean and constructive and I will do the same!

For me, the main opportunity will be to draw attention to the team we have at the FIA and the progress we are making. The Public Affairs and Policy Team at the FIA is like a well oiled engine, powering towards the achievement of our goals. We don’t usually have the opportunity to update our stakeholders as much as we should. This blog provides that opportunity. Over time, I will introduce you to the Public Affairs and Policy Department. Together we are working hard to support the whole physical activity sector and this blog should provide the forum to let you know what we are doing.

Steven Ward - FIA Public Affairs and Policy Manager

Welcome from the FIA (and Dillon)

As I was walking my dog (Dillon) this morning my mind inevitably turned to work. I know it sounds sad, but my early morning walks with my red setter are always a good time for me to think about the various things bubbling away on my agendas – whether its work or my son’s A-levels (thankfully now a past worry). On this occasion it was work; the fact that next year the FIA will be celebrating its 20th anniversary and I pondered about how the world has changed in the last 20 years.

For us in the fitness industry it’s been evolution at the speed of sound. From Fonda to globally-networked exercise cycles, as well as rowing and running machines: from leotard enthusiasts to GP referrals: from niche fad to ‘government delivery partner’.

Twenty years ago who would have thought that the Government would give us money to take our proposition into our communities – but I suppose 20 years ago who would have thought that we’d be talking about ‘50% of the adult population being overweight or obese’. Mind you, 20-years ago a fledgling FIA’s only agenda was to try to get the support of an industry that was dominated in all sectors by visionary entrepreneurs focused on picking up on the Fitness boom in the United States and staking a claim on the UK market

Today I (and my team) worry about communications: do the 200,000 odd people who work in our industry know who we are, what we do, how we do it and how we can benefit the 5,700-odd facilities up and down the land. The answer is probably not. It’s ironic, given the great strides we have made in communications; the more we say sometimes the less we are heard. The purpose of this blog is to start a dialogue with those who are ‘listening’. Of course we want to tell you what we’re doing, but more importantly, we want to hear from you about what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, what you want us to do. We might not always be able to do what you want of us, but we will try.

So talk to us

David Stalker, FIA Chief Operating Officer