We grab five minutes with senior account executive, Adam Farrant, to discuss ukactive‘s ongoing mission, member benefits, important dates for your diaries and predictions for the leisure and fitness industries in the coming year.
Adam Farrant, ukactive Senior Account ExecutiveHow did ukactive come into fruition?
ukactive was created as the trade association for the leisure sector some 26 years ago in 1991. Our focus is a long-standing and uncompromising vision to get more people, more active, more often. We are committed to improving the health of the nation through promoting active lifestyles. Some of your readers may know us better as the FIA (Fitness Industry Association) but we underwent a rebrand and subsequent change of name after the Olympics in 2012.
Who makes up your membership base?
Our 4,000 strong membership base is made up of any organisation that has a role to play in getting people active. This includes leisure facilities, outdoor fitness, wider activity providers, fitness equipment providers and children’s activity providers.
What does ukactive offer its members?
We provide a supportive, professional and innovative platform for our partners to succeed in achieving their goals through physical activity and the leisure sector. ukactive is dedicated to creating the conditions for its member’s growth and success, and will add value every time we engage with members, whilst also providing a platform for the sector to thrive as a whole.
The growth in the leisure industry over the past year has been primarily driven by the private sector. What are your predictions for the coming year?
With a continued rise in boutique fitness I feel that the leisure sector will need to accommodate specific offerings tailored to their membership base moving forwards, even more so than they do currently. Also following the ukactive Research Institute’s recent findings we expect to see a continued rise in cardio and indoor cycling classes, particularly in the public sector which is actually enjoying healthy growth as well.
ukactive are involved with several prominent industry events. What dates should we have in our diaries?
The next date to have in your diaries is the 1st of November which is when the UK’s leading policy event for the sector is taking place, National Summit. To find out more about this event go to the National Summit website.
How important do you feel asset finance is in the current state of the fitness industry?
It’s great for the industry to have the opportunity to purchase equipment however they would like to, and enables a more flexible way to work and run a business, especially in these times of financial uncertainty.
