Could you lead the commoditisation of the spa industry in the UK? Massage Heights is looking for international expansion partners. The company’s VP of Marketing, Alice O’Donnell, explains

At Massage Heights, we have an established network of franchise businesses across the USA and a master franchise operating successfully in Canada. Our business model has taken the successful gym membership model and applied it to the spa experience, creating a network of high street wellness retreats. This part of the sector has developed into a multi-billion dollar market in North America over the past decade.

Massage Heights’ retreats generate more dollars per square foot than our competitors and we have developed a reputation for providing among the best experience in the massage industry, offering professional, affordable and convenient therapeutic services.

With the USA many years ahead in this sector, we are ready to expand through a structured, effective and rapid roll out of our proven business model in similar economies with a more traditional spa industry. Leading the commoditisation of a sector, in our case the massage and spa industry, provides a well-financed first mover with a great opportunity to dominate in their country.

Following Massage Heights’ success crossing into Canada, we are now working to bridge the Atlantic. The current focus is on promoting the opportunity to attract an appropriate individual or corporation to take on the UK and Ireland markets.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY
According to Spa Creators’ 2014 UK Spa Market Analysis report: “UK consumers currently make an estimated 6 million visits per annum to spas throughout the UK.”

Hotel spas account for 41 per cent of the total number of spas and attract around 12,600 consumers per annum.

Spas within health and fitness clubs account for 27 per cent of the market and attract 10,900 consumers. Local day spas only account for 12 per cent, but attract 20,400 consumers.

The Massage Heights model presents an exciting opportunity for an ambitious, entrepreneurial business person to commoditise the spa experience in Britain.

Take the proven business concept from Massage Heights across the Atlantic, and mirror the rapid roll out of its franchise network over here in the UK, providing you as the proprietor with a profitable first mover advantage from a business model built on recurring income that boasts a 97 per cent customer retention rate.

Taking the successful gym membership model and applying it to luxury spa treatments has created an elegant business model:
• Membership model with positive cash flow
• Recurring revenue
• High referral rates
• Multiple revenue streams
• Currently no network of direct competition
• Average clinic revenue equivalent to £800K

Taking this business model and the spa experience to create high street wellness retreats has created a multi-billion dollar market in North America over the past decade, and presents an opportunity to replicate that success in the UK. “The UK has an established luxury market, with an aspirational populace, exactly how the US and Canada were a few years ago,” says Lesley Hawks of Massage Heights.

“Demand for health and wellness is predicted to continue to grow with the increasing awareness of the importance of caring for your body and mind.”

Why Massage Heights?
Founded in 2004, the company has achieved its goal of making massage and spa services more accessible, and so more frequently experienced – we now have 125 outlets across the US and Canada run by hand selected franchisees.

With spa retreats located in busy urban areas, and open during hours to suit local people – and with well-trained therapists, multiple levels of membership and product upsells all contributing to revenue – dedicated Massage Heights outlets are able to offer an unrivalled client experience, and as such generate more income per square foot than their competitors.

Given the current levels of opportunity in the UK spa and wellness sector – combined with Massage Heights’ proven membership model – the stage is now perfectly set for early adopters to establish a strong and successful foothold in the British luxury massage and spa market.

That’s why the search is on for an enterprising British entrepreneur to take the reigns at the forefront of the firm’s UK expansion, to grow the Massage Heights brand and franchise network into a household name across the country.

Once considered a treat, massage has now gone mainstream in the United States, and we’ve identified the United Kingdom as the next new market that is ripe for expansion.

We’ve developed a model that is proven to be successful and transferable, so becoming our UK master franchisor is a relatively low-risk opportunity with high potential rewards.