LivingWell has pledged to shape its service to suit the individual fitness needs of members as it launches its new customer promise.

The fitness arm of the Hilton Group said the Personalised Fitness for Life promise will sit at the heart of the business, driving its strategy and will differentiate it from its competitors.

The launch follows extensive customer research of the company’s target markets of 35 to 50-year-old females and couples aged 55 and over. The research showed that above all, location (clubs within a three-mile radius) was the most important determinant for new members joining a facility, followed by cleanliness and quality facilities.

Helpful and friendly staff was the most important element of a club for 85 per cent of respondents, followed by a good range of equipment (84 per cent) and swimming pools (75 per cent).

The most common motivation to remain members of a gym was to keep fit, followed by general health and socialising. Only 8 per cent of respondents said they used a gym for stress relief. This was particularly interesting for LivingWell, which has used stress relief as an important part of its message to customers in the past.

“The results from the research were enlightening,” said managing director of LivingWell, Patrick Fitzgibbon. “As an industry we have always said we think we know what members need and want. We now have a very clear direction from our customers about what is genuinely important to them.

“Now everything at LivingWell will be driven by our customer promise of Personalised Fitness for Life. We now have a clear and simple promise to deliver to every one of our members. It will be hugely challenging to deliver and it will take years, but we’ve got to start somewhere.”

Meanwhile, Hilton has dismissed claims that it is looking to sell the LivingWell chain. A spokesperson from the company said a report that appeared in The Times newspaper was “pure speculation” and that it had no plans for a sale of the chain at this time.