Tell us about Market Sports and The Health Club Collection. What did inspire you to start these businesses?
We love sport; we love fitness, and have been working in the industry since the 1980s. Why Shoreditch? Our personal family connections to Shoreditch and the East End go back over 100 years. Shoreditch’s proximity to the City meant that we could provide a unique and amazing range of sports and fitness facilities that had never been available previously to the working and residential population of the area, balancing profitability with community commitment.
The Health Club Collection started life back in 1990.The Old Spitalfields Fruit Market was lying derelict prior to redevelopment and we felt this offered a fantastic opportunity to breathe some life into an area we loved. After carrying out a study together with the landowners, we installed three temporary artificial multi- sport pitches with a portakabin for changing rooms and called the first Club in the group, Market Sports.
The popularity was such that the Centre quickly grew to six indoor multi-sport pitches offering football, netball, cricket and tennis, a 25 metre indoor swimming pool on Bishopsgate, a small gym, aerobics studio as well as badminton and volleyball courts. In a relatively short time we had created the largest lunchtime 5-a-side leagues possibly in the world, with over 200 of the top City companies playing.
They were exciting, pioneering temporary facilities that soon developed iconic status in The City and beyond, for through sport we brought together the City and the East End. It is referenced in a number of publications as the meeting point between the burgeoning population of City workers and the residents of the East End, Market Sports served as a catalyst for the regeneration of Spitalfields. Our sense of, and love for the community gave free pitch usage to local schools deprived of such facilities at off peak periods, discounts to local residents and first jobs and training to school leavers excited by a profession in sport.
In Year 2000 part of the Old Market was earmarked for redevelopment, so Market Sports moved close by to The Bishopsgate Goodsyard where we swapped the Market vibe for early 19th Century railway arches. Once again a previously derelict historic structure was transformed into a bustling hub of sport, health and fitness for both the resident and working population of the local area and contributed to the decision to save and list the arches known as the Braithwaite Viaduct, one of the oldest railway structures in the world.
Three years on it was all change again, this time to make way for the East London Line Extension and Shoreditch High Street Station. This led the Club to its current home in Shoreditch’s Batemans Row where with a gym, class studios and a fabulous 25 metre pool, it has been keeping the local population fit for the past ten years. The imagery in the club depicts this exciting history as an old saying goes “you can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been”.
In 2005 we acquired Slim Jims situated on the Broadgate Estate near to Liverpool Street Station. Once again there was no shortage of history attached as Slim Jims is the longest operating Health Club in the City of London. It had started life some 40 years before as a gentleman’s Club with a small gym area. In fact its name is derived from an old army term. Interestingly one of the females that had been allowed access was one Diana Spencer, who worked at the Club in the years before she went on to marry into the royal family.
The following year saw The CityPoint Club added to the collection. In the basement of what was to shortly become the most expensive building ever sold in the UK (£650million) The CityPoint Club had started life as “Champneys CityPoint”. When we took over it had certainly seen better days but a sustained period of investment and growth has seen it re-emerge as one of the finest Clubs in the City.
In 2008, The Bankside Health Club opened its doors in Southwark. The Collection’s first purpose built Club since Market Sports was ideally located to cater for the health and fitness needs of the burgeoning population of the Bankside area of Southwark, one of the most rapidly developing areas in the whole of London. The Bankside Health Club gradually developed a reputation as a centre for excellence with a particular emphasis on Group Exercise classes.
In March 2013 The Health Club Collection ventured outside of The City of London for the first time in its 22 year history with the purchase of The River Bourne Club in Chertsey, Surrey. The Club had been in existence for some 10 years and is the key health & fitness provision for the community of people who live and work in the area. The non-London location may have been a surprise but the key element that marked it out as a natural addition to the Collection was the combination of potentially first class facilities and its position within the heart of the community.
This was followed in May 2013 with the acquisition of The Regents Place Health Club, formerly Virgin Active Regents Park. We have carried out exciting refurbishments at both clubs bringing under-invested facilities up to date, including new studios, equipment, functional training areas and fitness programmes.
What is unique about Market Sports compared to other health clubs in the area? Why should people join Market Sports and how do we innovate, keep adding value and grow the loyal customer base in this crowded market?
The Health Club Collection will always remain an eclectic group of Clubs, not facilities, each Club is individually named and whose philosophy is, to be an integral part and reflection of the local community, creating a welcoming professional climate for members. As with any prized Collection, it has been developed to ensure it complements our ideals of providing first rate facilities with a level of quality and local customer service that reflects our ethos of Courtesy; Awareness; Respect and Empowerment.
As opposed to large chains which, by their very nature, are one size fits all, we can react more quickly to members’ issues and needs, providing a more bespoke approach and understanding that each of our locations and our members have unique goals. With an inspirational and creative Board of Directors and club teams we are 100% focused on striving to continually exceed our members’ expectations.For us and I hope our members Market Sports is not just a mass produced health and fitness facility, it’s your LOCAL HEALTH “CLUB”, it’s about being fit and healthy in Shoreditch, not just anywhere in the world.
What does the future have in store for your businesses?
Our aim is to continue to create health and fitness clubs and studios with personality and to look at new ways to incentivise our members and their local communities to exercise to improve their health and feel even better about themselves. We want to continue to work with and develop wonderfully creative, inspirational teams who will bring the best out of our clubs and our members. Our future is to continue to create exercise environments that generate a climate of incentive, enthusiasm and achievement.
Social Links:
Website – http://www.marketsports.co.uk/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Market.Sports
Twitter – https://twitter.com/marketsports
