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Neal plans executive club roll out
Corporate health club management company Neal Training is to develop its executive club concept after the success of its first corporate gym site at Associated Newspapers (AN).
The company was asked by AN to develop a club exclusively for senior management. The executive club was established a year ago in a converted office and kitted out with Cybex equipment and a personal trainer to provide one-on-one instruction.
Managing director John Neal said the concept has proved so successful that Neal Training is planning to roll it out to other organisations and is currently in talks with another major newspaper group for a similar development.
“The barriers to entry for a traditional corporate gym can be quite high, but thanks to our relationship with Cybex, we can develop executive gyms for around £10,000 plus a management fee,” Neal said.
Neal Training currently manages six corporate facilities and has recently completed a £120,000 refurbishment of the Lifestyle Centre at the Ashridge Business School in Hertfordshire. As part of the project, one of the three squash courts was converted to provide additional gym space and a new mezzanine floor was installed to house exercise classes. The project included £80,000 worth of new Cybex equipment.
The facility, which has around 500 members in addition to the course participants and 250 staff, also includes a 20m pool, squash and tennis courts, and a sauna, steamroom and spa.
The company has run the club for 12 years and said its low membership turnover of 3 per cent is due to integrating a focused coaching approach to the mind, body and spirit.
“We use management consultancy techniques to focus on motivation, lifestyle and coaching and it means our members tend to stay with us for longer,” said Neal. “Our members say that they love their ‘gym with brains’.”