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