LA fitness CEO Martin Long is hinting at a possible move into the microgym sector, following the launch of the first £2.5m LAX brand premium health club in the heart of London.
Interviewed in January’s
Health Club Management magazine, Long suggests the operator could use its new LAX brand to stay in step with market trends.
The inaugural LAX club opened in October 2013, offering premium services with a focus on short, sharp workouts, designed to suit the hectic schedules of the 5,000 city slickers working in the building above the club.
Discussing plans to open more metropolis-based LAX clubs, Long said: "There’s also, within the design of the LAX brand and the structure of the offering, the option to launch a small studio format in line with the growing trend of the microgyms."
Long added that the success of the new facility’s intensive small group training sessions - LAX20 and LAX30 - could be transferred into smaller boutique locations, having become "very portable as a sub-brand."
The LAX venture in St Botolph’s Building, near Aldgate Tube station, was the operator’s first new opening in 10 years and marked a shift towards a new brand of health club, distinct from the established LA fitness model.
Long says this was driven by the desire to start LAX with a “blank canvas and bring it to life,” revealing the move was also inspired by trends in other industries.
"It’s similar to the hotel model in a way, where you have different levels of branding within a portfolio," he notes. "If you were in an Intercontinental, for example, you wouldn’t necessarily see branding for the group’s other hotel chains in there. Similarly, there aren’t many references to LA fitness in the LAX building."
