

Ep.72 - Boutique fitness gyms and studios: what the future holds
Do you know your HIIT from your SMIT training? Fitness studios offer every niche of wellbeing. At ukactive’s Sweat event, we talk to operators at the top of their game for a great understanding of what a boutique offering truly is, and what’s to come.
The Escape Your Limits boutique fitness expert panel:
Jason Tubbs, MD of Another Space
Olivia Brafman, head of business at Ministry of Sound Fitness
Michelle Dand, group health and fitness manager at David Lloyd
Steve Scales, director of client services at ukactive
Watch the full episode on YouTube –
Jason Tubbs, MD of Another Space
Joined a panel at Sweat discussing whether the boutique sector has reached saturation, and what the future holds.
Olivia Brafman, head of business at Ministry of Sound Fitness
How to understand the journey you’re being taken on in other experience-led industries, and why this works in the boutique fitness market.
Michelle Dand, group health and fitness manager at David Lloyd
How gyms and chains can learn from the boutique market to avoid complacency.
Steve Scales, director of client services at ukactive
How ukactive use Sweat and other events in driving the value of physical activity by supporting boutiques and informing decisions.
Sweat is a thought leadership event connecting forward-thinking brands, startups, influencers and investors in boutique fitness.
With the boutique sector rapidly growing in prominence, Sweat delivers cutting edge data insights, implementable business knowledge and will motivate and inspire. Guests, panel members, speakers and host include representatives and operators from leading fitness companies and bodies such as ukactive, Another Space, Ministry of Sound Fitness, David Lloyd, Escape Fitness and more.
Episode highlights
- How complementary branding or processes can help a boutique space (or vice versa with a traditional gym) and why it’s still important to have stand-alone brand perceptions externally.
- What the membership trends in boutiques are evolving to, and why the pay as you go/unlimited monthly offerings are switching between business models.
- Hear about the challenges of acquiring the best employees, and why boutiques are more about the performance than the personal training.
- How to pivot from a completely different industry into fitness and why transitions from the music industry, for example, have been so successful in boutiques.
- How to centre a fitness experience about the sound, and why nightclub culture is leading the way in boutique studio success.
- Growth strategies for the coming years and how transatlantic business can influence each other through embracing trends.
- How to positively introduce evolution and development to a member base that may fear change.
Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with boutique fitness experts from the ukactive Sweat event…