énergie Fit For Growth

An Entrepreneurial Brand Receives Corporate Backing

In 2002, HiLife sold their underperforming gym in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire to their former Chief Executive. That gym was rebranded into a budget offering and became the first club to hold the énergie name. 

Working from his dining room, for Jan Spaticchia and his friends, David Beattie and Steve Philpott, franchising was never the plan for énergie – a chance conversation between Jan and Steve inspired that idea. At the time, franchising was very successful in Australia and the USA, but it hadn’t arrived in the UK Fitness market. Being first to market gave énergie a huge advantage and by the end of 2003, énergie had its first five franchisees.

Today, Leighton Buzzard, that same club from 2002, is one of over 100 gyms across the UK & Ireland that make up énergie Fitness, generating a network turnover of circa ￡30 million. 2019 has also seen the group win significant industry recognition; 

·     Winner 2019 Brand Awareness & Innovation Awareness from the British Franchisee Association 

·     Ranked number two in the Elite Franchise 100 Top UK Franchises 2019 – placing above such brands as McDonald’s, Subway and Anytime Fitness

For me, énergie is a truly unique organisation with strong core beliefs, great staff and a real determination to bring fitness to the masses. As an example, UK Active do a superb job of promoting fitness through National Fitness Day. What isn’t widely appreciated is that it was énergie who created this event for their clubs and realising it should be a national event, gifted it to UK Active.

Thus far, énergie has reflected the personality of its founder and CEO. I have personally witnessed (and been on the receiving end of) Jan setting some big, bold, aggressive challenges which have definitely sought to push the boundaries and have initially been thought impossible to achieve. It is testament to Jan’s infectious enthusiasm and optimism that anything is possible, which has created a unique place for staff to work. There’s an authentic enthusiasm throughout the business from people who are genuinely passionate about the problems the company is trying to solve. énergie staff aren’t afraid to question why things are done in a certain way or to go against the majority when making changes. This isn’t to say that everything works out, there have been some spectacular failures, but these are far outweighed by the huge successes. Taking calculated risks, knowing there are never any guarantees of success, and above all executing, is what has set Jan apart for me. Indeed, it’s one of the main reasons our company (Thirty Six) first began working with énergie and will continue to do so for as long as they want us to.

Last Friday (2ndAugust), saw another important milestone in the énergie story as Bridges Fund Management, the private equity firm, acquired a majority stake of the business. Bridges look to be a very good fit for énergie and have extensive experience in the fitness sector. Bridges backed The Gym Group in the early stages of their development and up until the point of their floatation. Bridges has also invested in Impact Fitness in the USA, and Viva Gym in Spain. Viva is now the largest budget gym across the Iberian region.

Having had the privilege of working with énergie for the past three years, we have seen first-hand, the amount of hard work, dedication and commitment, those working within the company have displayed to get to this point. 

This juncture will see some key people end their formal association with énergie. David Beattie, Steve Philpott, Fintan Donahue, Martin Ashley, Peter Croney, David Waugh and Ian Rushbury have all been fundamental in their own way to énergie Fitness being what it is today. Our friend, Jan Spaticchia, will be stepping down as CEO but will not be far from the business, remaining as a significant shareholder and a non-executive director. We would like to congratulate Jan on the huge success he has created and look forward to continuing to work with him in the future.

Since February 2018, énergie has been led by their CEO, Neil King. Neil is a 25-year veteran of the fitness industry, previously the Managing Director of 1Life Management Solutions and Commercial Director at Everyone Active. Neil has already overseen the network rebrand of clubs from Fit4Less to énergie Fitness, delivered the two-tier membership and improved operational performance and developed a new digital marketing strategy for the group.

Neil has hired a senior management team with extensive experience holding key positions with such brands as Anytime Fitness UK, Fitness First, Livingwell, Pure Jatomi, TGI Fridays, Topnotch Health Clubs and Whitbread. The senior team will remain in place to deliver the very ambitious goals that énergie has for growth, both within the UK, and abroad. 

My sincere congratulations to all at énergie, we have loved working with you for the past three years and we look forward to supporting you further in this exciting next stage of your development.