Bannatyne members across the UK, including Ashford, have given overwhelming support to the decision to re-open health clubs and the safety measures the Group has implemented.
To gauge how members felt coming back to the health clubs after a long period of closure, The Bannatyne Group commissioned research to better understand their views. 89% of the more than 16,000 people who responded said they had been encouraged to return to their health club by the health and safety procedures in place.
Members were asked to rate the different measures and the results included (figures show the % who rated the actions excellent or good):
· Temperature testing – 94%
· PPE provision for staff – 95%
· Cleaning stations – 85%
· Safety signage – 88%
More than 92% said that they were confident that member safety was the most important consideration when the decision to re-open was made. Staff were also praised for their service at a challenging time with 87% rating it as excellent or good.
There was praise also from members who used the gym or classes for the layout and social distancing measures in place.
There have been a tiny number of reported COVID-19 cases across all health club and gym settings, but these represent where authorities have informed a facility that a user, who has had a positive result, attended a site within a certain time period, rather than indicating transmission in the gym environment.
According to UK Active since reopening the average number of cases in all health club/gym settings is 0.42 per 100,000 visits compared to over 50 per 100,000 population in the UK – making it more than 100 times more likely becoming infected in daily life.
Duncan Bannatyne said: “After being closed for a number of months it was important that members were made to feel safe returning to our health clubs.
“The feedback from this survey, social media and from personal comments to our staff has been incredible. We made a significant investment in preparing for re-opening and it has been vindicated, most members are more than happy to resume their fitness and wellbeing regimes.
“The benefits to physical and mental health are well-documented and I hope that this response will encourage those people who were uncertain about returning to come back and see for themselves how safe the environment is.”