The UK Spa Association (UKSA) and ukactive have signed a partnership that will offer a new 'Active Spa' membership to businesses that provide both spa and fitness facilities and services.

An increasing number of organisations are embracing a holistic approach to wellness – which often includes combining spa and fitness services – and the new 'Active Spa' membership is designed to provide specialist support from both membership bodies in a single package.

It gives members access to expert advice across a broad range of topics – such as improving reputation, brand awareness and growth across the spa and physical industry sectors.

In addition, the membership offers key support services in health and safety, strategic business growth and counsel, discounts on sector events and networking opportunities, public awareness campaigning, and benchmarking among others.

Charlie Thompson, chair of UKSA, said: "With the strong growth from nil to more than 500 member spas in four years, the UK Spa Association recognises the need to represent the industry more fully in the future, and the insight our experts can provide to support the national wellness drive started by ukactive makes perfect sense."

"Our members will get better value from this joint member option and our reach will extend beyond 1,000 spas to really push the crucial issues around national wellbeing."

"We hope spa operators will see this partnership as a huge benefit to the growth and credibility of the spa industry in the UK," Thompson added.

Steven Scales, client services director at ukactive, said: "It is important as an organisation we continually evolve our offering for members. The rise of spa and wellness services, along with the growth of the boutique sector, has accelerated across the globe in recent years. We are therefore delighted to announce a new partnership between ukactive and the UKSA.

"The ability to share best practice and expertise between us will further enhance the support we can provide to our members and ensure we make progress in our mission to get more people more active, more often."