Simply Gym has 23 personal trainers supporting 24,000 members across its six sites. The PTs have traditionally worked on a self-employed basis full time or delivered gym floor classes and member inductions, completing voluntary hours, agreed at the start of each month, in return for a reduced monthly rent.

The independent health club chain started working with PT management company, Your Personal Training, ten years ago, to help deliver world-class personal training services for its members.

It was Your Personal Training that alerted Simply Gym to the impending IR35 tax legislation changes, which means private sector employers will be responsible for assessing whether or not contractors, such as PTs, need to pay income tax and national insurance contributions as though they were employed directly by the company.

Dave Evans is CFO of Simply Gym, which is part of Bay Leisure. He explains: “We were alerted to IR35 through Your Personal Training in September last year, and I was concerned about the impact it would have on payroll. We started consultation with Your Personal Training straight away and, despite lockdown, completed the process in just under three months, embracing a hybrid PT model meaning there will be no drop in customer service as our PT’s can still do gym floor classes and inductions whilst remaining compliant.

“It was completely pain-free. Your Personal Training took care of the entire process for us, drafting a compliant PT model for us to review and then putting the wheels in motion, holding a series of webinars with staff and PT’s to explain the changes, timelines and answer any questions. Without YPT’s knowledge and support it would undoubtedly have taken much longer, and because we use their full PT management service it was all done for free.

“Your Personal Training’s Hybrid Personal Training model provides a clear line between employed working operations and self-employed personal training, and will help keep good people in our facilities following what has been a very difficult year for our sector. When clubs reopen we can maintain our usual high-level, personalised service for members, as well as being able to offer non-PT staff career progression through YPT’s career and education pathway.”

Preparation is key, because assessing each team member and introducing and actioning appropriate policies and procedures can extremely time consuming. Your Personal Training has created a White Paper with free guidance for health clubs, including eight easy-to-follow steps to ensuring IR35 compliance.

Wojtek Wasag is a PT for Your Personal Training, based at Hadleigh Pool and Leisure in Suffolk. Your Personal Training supports both PT’s and operator deliver world class personal training. The 24-year-old, originally from Poland, has built and grown a successful PT business – he loves his job and has many happy clients.

Wojtek came to the UK in 2016 to live with sister when he dropped out of his university in Poland. He started working in a care home and in his free time was using the gym where he is now based. It was here he was taken under the wing of one of the PT’s, who inspired him to get his personal training qualifications. Wojtek, who now has his Level Three Personal Training and his Level Two Fitness Instructor qualifications, says: “I’d always wanted to be a PT and I couldn’t be happier doing a job that I absolutely love. No two days are the same, and no two clients are the same either.”

Wojtek first got into fitness as a teenager, after he struggled with his weight as a child. He says: “My brothers teased me because I was fat. I was embarrassed, and I remember crying myself to sleep. I was lazy and spent too much time playing video games accompanied with a diet of junk food. I lacked self-esteem and confidence. I was 16 when I decided to do something about it, and I headed to my local gym.

“I often draw on my own personal experience, remembering how I felt when I first started going to the gym, how awkward I was, that awful feeling that everyone was judging me. I also remember being overwhelmed and not knowing what equipment to use. I recall on these memories to help me to connect with my clients.”

Wojtek currently has approximately 36 ‘in person’ clients, as well as online clients too. He’s fully booked, training clients for around 55 hours a week. During the lockdown he grew an online community, offering exercises, support and challenges, and had approximately 500 people engaging in his Facebook group as well as 30 people joining him for each of his Live virtual classes. He says: “I built a really welcoming community online. We all talked and chatted and made sure everyone was OK. It was amazing to connect with so many people and to help others to keep motivated. I’m fortunate that many people I communicated with virtually during lockdown have now joined me for ‘in person’ training. I even have one client who now travels two hours just to train with me.”

Wojtek says the pandemic has forced him and other trainers to look at Personal Training in a virtual capacity: “Being available both online and ‘in person’ gives clients an opportunity to work with me more. I’m finding that, for some clients, one or two ‘in person’ sessions a week isn’t enough, and they would lack motivation on the days they weren’t with me. Now, Your Personal Training’s Your Wellness app helps me to keep both my clients and my business on track.

“The Your Wellness app really does everything a trainer needs, from allowing my clients to book sessions and make payments, to me being able to set them fitness challenges, training sessions and even log their calories. I can work from anywhere, at any time. It really has enabled my PT business to go from strength to strength.

“Overall, the team at Your Personal Training are a great bunch of people to have supporting you. They are on your side, and are always there to help you build a business and offer any advice and guidance. They strive to support PT’s whilst professionalising the role.”

The Waterside Hotel and Leisure Club has a variety of fitness offers for its 7,000 members, including 13 personal trainers, which benefit customers and the health club’s operations by bringing a complete and professional PT offer to the club, both in person and digitally.

The PTs are provided and managed through a partnership with Your Personal Training (YPT), as Alice Hulley explains: “Prior to our partnership with YPT, we did have a few PTs working at the club, but we struggled with recruitment and then retaining the personal trainers. We needed the support of an expert company, which was the main reason we started working with Your Personal Training. We have been extremely impressed with YPT’s fantastic personal trainers; our customers love working with them and they are a true asset to our club.

“The senior and regional managers at YPT that support our team have been successful PT’s themselves, so they know exactly what it takes to run a successful personal training business. Not only that, but YPT continuously look after our PT’s, in terms of ongoing education, CPD, business support and mentorship, which supports the PT’s to be successful, in turn making our club more successful.

“A key benefit to our partnership is that we know, if we can get our members to engage with personal training, they are more likely to reach their goals, feel successful and continue coming back to the gym. It’s really important to get all our members, especially new members, off to a great start and to empower each of them to use the club to the best of its ability. The YPT management scheme for its PT’s coaches them to gather a deep understanding of what the member wants, to help them navigate their own wellbeing and fitness goals.

“A brand-new initiative to drive even more positive interaction between our members and the personal trainers has been the launch of YPT’s ‘Hyperice Recovery Hub’, where the PT’s coach basic exercise recovery techniques to assist the member experience and ultimately support training goals.

“The YPT team are experienced professionals, really knowledgeable, and their communication is fantastic. Over the last four years it’s been an extremely successful partnership, which will continue to grow, improving the quality and provision of the fitness offer at our club.”