We want to support and normalise exceptional, longstanding wellbeing changes

What’s your background?
I’m a former professional cricketer with qualifications in sports rehabilitation, clinical massage therapy, strength and conditioning and Pilates, as well as exercise and cancer. I’ve written and developed education for health and fitness professionals on a range of subjects from behaviour change through to overviews of traditional medical systems and the study of wellbeing frameworks.

Tell us about SP&Co
The SP&Co Group is a portfolio of health and wellbeing businesses. We develop, manage, and own a range of venues, boutique fitness concepts, personalised practitioner-led methods and specialist education companies. At the heart of the group is the desire to support and normalise exceptional, longstanding and positive wellbeing changes.

How did it all begin?
I wanted to create a health and fitness system by working with a diverse range of modalities and experts to support and empower individuals to take control of their own health.

When we launched in 2001 the company was my version of a 360-degree health and fitness management service.

By curating and managing practitioner-led programmes, I started to achieve outcomes that transcended those being delivered by commercial health and fitness businesses in terms of health-related quality of life.

I then attracted investment to set up my first standalone club in London, which I ran for 17 years until we relocated four years ago. Having ownership allowed me to refine methods and showcase outcomes which were then used to shape concepts we’ve developed in areas from premium lifestyle and spa, through to clinical supportive care.

Tell us about your brands
We have four of our own brands and also consult, manage and operate venues for other brands.
SP&Co, the hub of the group, owns and operates spas and clinical projects worldwide, as well as consulting on developments in these markets.

Our next brand is the Body Space private members’ health and fitness club (BodySPace). We currently have two London locations, in Hans Place and Knightsbridge, and we’re gearing up to launch at the Spa at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London in September, alongside another one of our brands – Movementum, which is already operating there.

Body Space offers complete performance lifestyle programmes, with every member having a team of experts managing their schedule. We aim to deliver first-class levels of service in beautiful environments, meaning it’s a very labour-intensive and supportive concept, where every detail of health and wellbeing is looked after.

It’s been an interesting journey witnessing this concept evolving into a brand and the core values have never resonated more than they do now. Even though Body Space is only available to a select few due to limits on the number of memberships available, we’ve made sure the lessons learned have transcended this operation – and a lot of the wider concepts we’ve developed over the years have come from the experiences we’ve had in combining therapies, training, and treatments in the Body Space locations.

We’re also having some exciting discussions about going international in 2023.

The second brand is Fit Space (FitSPace), which is an academy concept run by what I like to call the ‘next generation of health and fitness practitioners’. Currently, we operate Fit Space in the corporate wellbeing market in London.

We carry out small group coaching and workshops in movement, nutrition and recovery, and each Fit Space team member delivering these workouts and programmes is on a mentorship programme covering areas such as coaching, health behaviour change, sleep and stress. It’s our way of nurturing new talent.

Movementum – a new premium wellness brand – is our latest offering and launched earlier this year.

Created by a team of experts in fitness, medicine and behaviour change, Movementum blends fitness studio and spa experiences with our own range of movement-enhancing products (www.HCMmag.com/prod).

Through this new ecosystem, supported by a range of studio, spa and on-demand services, we’re helping people take control of their mental and physical health through the power of movement.

As well as signature classes (delivered in the studio) and treatments (delivered in the spa) we’re also just about to launch a ‘movement enhancement’ product range of oils, serum and balms, as well as a diffuser range. These will launch in September and will be available to purchase online from October.

In launching Movementum, we wanted to harness the power of movement and physical literacy and in doing so, we’ve created an offering that not only helps clients to move better and move more but also provides them with tools to support mindset and behaviour change.

By combining positive psychology and principles of behaviour change into the classes and treatments, we’re helping build confidence and motivation, which feeds into the creation of long-term healthy habits.

The vision for Movementum is for it to be an integral part of multiple spa and wellness venues globally, with the primary aim of promoting physical literacy and helping people move better and live better, enhancing both their longevity and quality of life.

By creating the Movementum brand, which has brought physical activity and literacy back to the fore, we’re helping individuals engage in and understand physical activity and the multitude of benefits it offers. We’re also helping people engage in physical activity to improve their holistic health and wellbeing.

Tell us about movement health
Movement health is a fast-growing fitness trend and category in its own right. It covers all areas, physically and psychologically. It’s an effective and efficient complement to massage and recovery solutions and is for anyone looking for a competitive edge or facing a limited range of motion or mental health challenges.

Physical activity is declining at an alarming rate globally. More people live sedentary and inactive lifestyles, leading to obesity, illness, and premature death.

For many years, movement has been seen as a secondary pillar within wellness, but the real importance of movement in contributing to mental and physical health is now more recognised – and going forward, the concept of movement will be viewed as a primary and most essential part of any health and wellness strategy.

Physical literacy is all about giving people the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for getting involved in physical activities for life.

How has the business been developing so far?
Our approach to primarily operating evidence-based concepts with clear outcomes has meant we’ve built a very loyal community, and we’ve been lucky over the last few years that our sectors have proven resilient while some parts of the commercial health, fitness and hospitality sectors have been hit hard.

Our previous experience in working with and consulting on behalf of other brands has been invaluable in the development of our own, meaning the foundations of our group have been built on a heritage of experience and knowledge.

The next five years promise to be an exciting time for the group as we look to grow these businesses into new territories to take advantage of untapped potential in the market.

What trends do you see?
Within spa we’re seeing an increase in the use of digital solutions such as apps to improve ongoing client interactions.

This ‘aftercare’ has been an area that spa has been slower to adopt but is now engaging with. The spa environment is the perfect place to inspire health change and now – with the use of digital – our teams can support clients and guests outside of the physical venue as well.

The emergence of training in health behaviour change within our teams is another trend. We’re asking them to motivate and inspire clients and so need to equip them with a communication framework and the necessary skills to facilitate health change.

Finally, the growing awareness of corporate and colleague wellbeing and the role of health and fitness in creating positive mental wellbeing is recognised widely within our teams and in the corporate world. We need to support our colleagues with their own health if we are to expect them to support our clients with theirs.

How can we pivot the sector to deliver health interventions for older people?
There are two big ways I see this happening. Firstly, from a people perspective, it’s essential the health and fitness industry keeps working to improve standards in coaching and delivery. The ability to be able to support the medical industry and special populations is really a basic duty of care for the industry.

We need to educate coaches as generalists to be able to collaborate with specialists such as physiotherapists, osteopaths, oncologists and surgeons, as well as to deliver sound evidence-based advice and services.

I feel as an industry we’re in a unique position to be a force for good in supporting the demands of modern medicine, as well as being hugely positive, inclusive, preventative and supportive. We need to understand our place on the medical and wellbeing continuum and remove barriers to participation.

Secondly, the use of AI and health tech has started to become hugely positive in these areas – especially for muscle injuries. There are some amazing solutions now that remove barriers to people helping themselves.

We know being sedentary is one of the leading causes of injury and lifestyle-related disease; it’s a vicious circle and the more we can do to remove barriers to active living the better. AI and other tech can help us do this by offering not just sound triage services – in worst-case scenarios – but also helping us demedicalise, creating a clear pathway for individuals to be active and happy.

Tell us about your hotel partnerships
I took on my first hotel contract 22 years ago and had the privilege of witnessing the role that two of the major pillars – service and environment – play in delivering care.

The hotel industry is untouchable in these areas and a perfect environment for me when it comes to developing impactful health concepts.

I use the experience gained in the hotel industry often when consulting in the clinical, sports and lifestyle industries. Hoteliers’ ability to create seamless moments, engender trust and win people’s confidence using consistent communication and delivering exceptional experiences is something other industries can learn from.

Conversely, I use the experiences in those other industries – notably the frameworks that support human performance and evidence-based practices – and bring these standards into spa. It’s this diversity of experiences and projects that really interests and motivates me and fuels innovation.

What market sectors are you developing?
We’re in the early stages of development with a food and beverage concept. I feel this is an area we should explore as it has natural synergies with our physical venues. I’m taking my time with it though, as I have massive respect for the hospitality industry and we need to create something that’s worth having sleepless nights over!

I’m also a founder of a wellbeing company in Germany that’s about to launch its first corporate health tech solution for small to medium sized businesses. It’s been a four-year project, and there’s a massive opportunity in the German market which, while it’s set up to support employees, has very few operators or solutions available.

What are your plans going forward?
I want to formally launch SP&Co Group – grow it out, support and commercialise our portfolio and from there to want to invest in and support individuals and businesses that create real health change.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Never be afraid to ask for opinions, never be too protective to share your thoughts, ideas or creativity and always be interested in others.

To make real change, diversity of opinion is essential and a great strength for any business. Diversity results in more innovation, more creativity and better problem-solving than any one person can provide on their own.

What are your views on the wider industry?
We may be heading towards an economically challenging time again, and I feel it’s essential we all support each other by raising standards in our industry.

Health and fitness should be and can be viewed as an essential service that positively affects our communities on many levels. If we aim for this, it will also give medium- and long-term business security.

I really hope that, even with short-term stressors on the industry, we don’t sacrifice standards and our message; this is the time we can and should be supporting communities to look after themselves the best they can.

More: www.spandco.co.uk