Once again Elevate 2025 delivered a wealth of learning and networking opportunities for fitness industry professionals. Here are the top 7 learnings and 4 realisations for you as a gym operator.

Elevate 2025 returned to a sunny (and sweltering!) London on 18 and 19 June 2025. Leaders from gyms, fitness clubs and studios gathered to see showcases from hundreds of suppliers of all shapes and sizes.

And the 8th edition of Elevate exceeded all expectations with endless chances to network and learn. We enjoyed welcoming many customers and partners, as well as new and old industry friends to the Xplor stand. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

With so much to do, it was impossible to see and hear everything. That’s where we can help with these learnings and realisations for gym owners and operators like you.

Let’s get stuck in!

Power up your business & stay in the know

#1: Know your worth

Glen Thurgood (Leisure DB) hosted the lively Thriving In Challenging Times panel with Lucy Carter (Moreton Hall Health Club), Chris Wood (Namix Performance Centre), Rob Handy (Independent Gyms) and Dave Alstead (Xplor Gym).

The group discussed headline findings from the upcoming Challenges Of Running A Gym research. Pre-register to receive your free copy when the report is released in September 2025.

Pre-register here

The research shows that 90% of gym operators have seen operating costs increase over the past year. Yet only 68% have raised membership prices since January 2024.

The panel discussed the challenges of raising prices. Many fear that members will leave. And on top of this a loyalty to members that can cause you to hold off asking them to pay more.

When you know your worth and are confident in the value you provide to members, raising prices to improve the financial performance of your business becomes easier.

Lucy shared how Moreton Hall Health Club delivers value by putting community at the heart of everything the club does. From members who have grown up at the club to events that get the wider community involved (like Bury’s Fittest), the club is an integral part of member’s lives. So, making a membership money well spent.

When considering price increases, the right approach is needed.

That might mean changing your pricing structure at the same time. Go beyond peak/off-peak pricing and gym-only/gym plus class pricing, to find new ways to add value. For example, add tiers that include perks like a biometric assessment or personalised coaching that command a higher price.

Chris shared how Namix Performance Centre successfully approached increasing prices recently.

The specialist club communicated the increases early. Explained the reasons behind the increase. And emphasised what members get for their money. Options were available to suit different budgets, so members could switch rather than cancel.

Realisation 1: Total alignment is essential when seeking financing

Evgenia Koroleva, founder of high-end gym ONE LDN hosted a helpful panel talking all things financing with Peter Roberts (founder of PureGym) and Nick-Raj Birdi from investment firm Imbiba.

The panel ran through the different financing options gym owners can consider. And emphasised the importance of shopping around to make the right choice for your business.

It’s essential to have a 3-5-year gym business plan outlining what you want to achieve. You need to know your exit plan. And make sure you understand the implications of different financing routes on your role in the business.

Above all, make sure you’re on the same page as your investor of choice and have built a strong relationship before accepting investment.

#2: Explore the female health opportunity

Women’s sport has boomed in recent years. And with this boom, organisations and sports clubs are taking action to make sure every aspect is considered with female health in mind.

The fitness industry is catching up. And this presents a very real business opportunity.

At PerformX Live 2025 we heard about the rise of women’s gyms and zones in gyms. Building on this, at Elevate 2025, Baz Moffat was joined on stage by Tara Dillon and Michelle Dand to talk about the business of female health.

Tara shared that many PTs can quadruple their client list, and keep clients twice as long, by having and showcasing a specialism in female health. For gyms and fitness clubs, having team members, and offering services supporting female health, is a sales and retention opportunity.

Big operators have already started doing this. Strategically pulling in all parts of the business to embed female health in a sustainable way. The Gym Group has rolled out CIMSPA endorsed training to coach staff on female health.

Michelle spoke to the approach that David Lloyd is taking. The health club leader reallocated budget towards hiring a female health lead. With buy-in from the leadership team, the operator has trained 123 instructors and coaches on female health.

From Autumn 2025, the operator will start running female health seminars to support members (and staff) with knowledge and signposted resources.

As an operator, you can start by creating a 2–3-year strategy to outline your approach.

Focus on making female health a business-as-usual subject. Educate staff with the right qualifications. You can even find low budget ways to add value for members, pairing up with experts to put on workshops on a range of topics.

Realisation 2: It could be time to tap into the love of dogs

David Minton (Leisure DB) hosted an interesting panel exploring how operators can take a lead from our pet dogs. Joined on stage by two dogs – one working and one a pet – the group discussed how dog owners are naturally active.

Each and every day requires owners to get out and take their dog(s) for a walk. This creates a routine. Often one where you regularly see the same people (and dogs), building a sense of community.

Particularly in the public sector, operators are already finding ways to engage this audience of dog owners who may not be gym members.

From dog friendly community running events, to running fitness classes where owners can bring their pets, look for opportunities to engage owners. So, increasing awareness and building an affinity to your club.

#3: Take it slow when introducing new tech

The Thriving In Challenging Times panel also touched on how operators can overcome common tech challenges. And so, reap the rewards of the right solutions.

There are a lot of tech solutions available to gym operators today. It’s easy to get excited about a solution that offers a feature you don’t have access to right now. But it’s important to always take a step back.

Think about your end goal – where do you want your business to be in 5 years? Make sure the tech you choose will help you get towards that goal. And has the longevity to meet your needs as your business evolves.

Take your time to do your research and make the right choice for your business. Find solutions that are complementary to existing systems. Streamline where you can.

Introducing or switching to a new tech solution can give you the opportunity to start over. Work with suppliers to find new ways of doing things to optimise processes and even solve problems you’re yet to identify.

Chris from Namix Performance Centre emphasised the importance of taking it slow and giving yourself extra time when rolling out a new solution – the devil is in the detail.

While it’s tempting to go it alone, many of the advanced solutions available today do take time to learn. And you’ll need training of some type. Set aside time for yourself and your team to learn. Test everything and find out how to use your solutions effectively.

#4: Use data to power growth

Competition is high 75% of gym operators say that they face competition in their area. And 58% of these operators say members are switching to competitors and/or targeting the same demographics.

Meanwhile 82% say that retaining members is a challenge. Many struggle to motivate members and get them into the habit of visiting.

James Barter from Xplor Gym joined Technogym’s Tim Clayton to discuss how as an operator you can use data to overcome these challenges. Ultimately, retaining a larger membership base and increasing your average member lifetime value.

Technogym + Xplor Gym = Addicting, personalised experiences for loyal members

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The integration between Technogym’s Mywellness CRM and Xplor Gym management software uses data to power hyper-personalised member experiences.

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Data-driven businesses are 23 times more likely to acquire customers. 6 times as likely to retain those customers. And as a result, 19 times more likely to be profitable than businesses that don’t use data.

Start by using data to power your marketing. Look in your gym management software to identify where, when, and how you market your business. Send personalised, targeted emails and SMS communications to prospects (and members).

Use data to refine your offering. Look at bookings and visits data – do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. Add new class and small group fitness formats. With your membership base in mind, look at adding new health and wellbeing offerings to be upsold to members and to attract new audiences in.

Making use of your data in this way can help you win more new members with an expanded, improved offering. Start small to make it manageable. Look to review on a regular basis – think quarterly or even monthly.

When you’ve won members, use data to drive personalised onboarding journeys.

Aim to give all new members an induction of some type. Using body composition tools (like the ones offered by Technogym) can be a great way to gather data at the start of a journey. Then track improvements for the member over time based on their goals.

Send targeted, tailored communications at key points. All the time, aiming to get members into the habit of visiting 4-12 times a month.

Your access control set up should let you track visits. Make sure your system is set up to identify when visit habits change and members stop showing up. Re-engage these at-risk members taking a personalised approach using the data across your CRM and other systems.

Finally, when members leave, record reasons why in your gym software. And make use of more detailed exit surveys. Review this data and find ways to rectify addressable issues.

Realisation 3: We need to cut through the noise

Many of the sessions at Elevate touched on the overwhelming scale at which inaccurate health and fitness info is knocking around the internet. Fuelled by social network, search engine, and now AI engine algorithms.

Operators and specialist practitioners can set the record straight. Getting the right info out there, educating consumers with accurate health and fitness facts. And providing personalised guidance based on individual member circumstances.

#5: Start with the problem to overcome AI overload

AI has been a hot topic for the past few years. As a gym operator it can feel like you should be using AI. But with a proliferation of solutions (and acronyms!), overwhelm can quickly kick in.

AI featured heavily in the Elevate 2025 agenda with two panels discussing it as a topic. Both touched on how to get started with AI and make it work for you.

Steffie Bryant from Keepme emphasised the importance of starting with the problem you want to solve. Tamara Bailey from HireBob reiterated that you should look at ways your business can be more efficient. Find repetitive data-driven tasks – high volume workload that’s preventing you from scaling.

Agentic AI can take autonomous control of high-volume tasks that eat time. Treat agents as an employee:

  • Find the right AI employee
  • Set clear goals
  • Provide adequate training
  • Then consistently check-in and update just like you would with a human employee

To protect your valuable business data and sensitive member data, look for AI solutions that are built on tech that place your data in a secure environment. And consider solutions created for the fitness industry by people who know the nuances of running a successful fitness business.

Get your staff onboard to help make your new solution a success. Explain what’s in it for them – how it will help them progress and gain more job satisfaction.

#6: Cook up some retention recipes

It’s something that has long challenged operators – how to hold onto members for longer. With almost 2 decades helping many of the UK’s health and fitness operators tackle retention challenges, Guy Griffiths is a go-to authority on the subject.

Guy has teamed up with education specialists Future Fit to distil his expertise into accessible retention recipes that operators of all shapes and sizes can cook up.

Mark Bagnall from Future Fit joined Guy on stage to share a few recipes:

  • 7-day call – The early days after new members join are the attrition danger zone. Welcome new members with a courtesy phone call 7-days after joining to check everything is going well. Not practical? Start by just calling those who’ve not visited yet or have only visited once
  • Challenges – Make them simple, inclusive, and varied so everyone can take part, and gym challenges are a fantastic way to engage and retain members. So, increasing the percentage of active members at your club(s)
  • Run classes on the gym floor more often – It’s well documented that group fitness class participants are more likely to stick with you for longer. Not everyone feels comfortable going to classes. But many would get involved in small group training sessions on the gym floor. Start by introducing these at quieter times of day then expand as you see success
  • Dessert-ers (absentees & leavers) – Look to learn from leavers (it’s not necessarily about winning them back, instead it’s about leaving the door open for a return!). We know that around 40% of members cancel indirectly due to a payment failure. Send a survey to this group to find out why they left. Consider calling those who complete the survey to get more info. Use this feedback to drive improvements

Realisation 4: Being persistent when making contact pays off

Send an email. Fire off a text. Send a WhatsApp message. Pick up the phone.

Often sending an email is not enough when tackling retention. You need to try multiple ways of getting in touch. The same goes for selling memberships!

#7: Use framing to give effective feedback

A high-performing business needs a high-performing team. Ross Eldergill from The Gym Group and Tom Answer from Noggin, spoke to the journey that the low-cost gym leader has been on to build a performance-based, people-first culture.

The project has seen the business put in place the processes and toolkits to help support every leader and team member on their career journey.

A key learning that came out of the session, is how to make sure that feedback is received as it’s anticipated. Feedback is essential to helping your staff improve performance and grow.

Feedback can be awkward to give. And it’s all too tempting to avoid the conversation entirely. This might protect you as a manager and leader. But it doesn’t really protect your team member.

Framing can help make feedback and performance conversations easier to approach.

Ahead of any feedback, start by framing the conversation you’re going to have. There are three ways to frame these conversations:

  1. Sell it to them – tell them what’s in it for them. Start by saying ‘My intention is…’
  2. Anticipate objectives – qualify the emotions they may be about to feel. Start by saying ‘I know what you may be thinking…’
  3. Gain permission – give them a feeling of control. Start by saying ‘is it ok if we have this conversation…

The wrap up…

What a great two days! There you have it, the big learnings and realisations for gym operators from Elevate 2025:

  1. Know your worth – Almost all gym operators are facing rising costs. Yet many are hesitant to increase prices due to fears of losing loyal members. Be confident in the value you deliver to members and look at pricing. Communicate price increases early and clearly explain the benefits members get. Explore tiered pricing options to offer added value and give members the opportunity to change package
  2. Explore the female health opportunity – There’s a growing opportunity for the fitness industry to support female health. An opportunity that brings sales and retention benefits. Start by upskilling staff, reallocating resources, and delivering tailored programming and workshops that support women’s health needs across all ages
  3. Take it slow when introducing new tech – Rushing and introducing a new tech solution can create more problems than it solves. Take time to assess how solutions align with your long-term business goals. Involve your team. Plan for training. And use rollouts as a chance to rethink and improve your processes
  4. Use data to power growth – With competition and retention challenges ever present, using your data effectively is essential to growth. From personalised marketing to onboarding journeys and exit insights, putting your data to work can help you improve experiences, win new members, and keep them coming back
  5. Start with the problem to overcome AI overload – Don’t adopt AI just for the sake of it. Start by identifying the problem you want to solve. Choose tools that enhance efficiency. Treat AI agents like team members: define goals, train them well, and choose secure, industry-focused solutions to protect your business and member data
  6. Cook up some retention recipes – Retention takes creativity and care. Simple actions like 7-day check-in calls, adding gym floor sessions, and engaging challenges can make a big difference. Learning from members who leave also helps you refine your offering and leave the door open for future returns
  7. Use framing to give effective feedback – Feedback is critical to team performance but can be hard to deliver well. Use framing techniques, like setting intentions, acknowledging emotions, and gaining permission, to create constructive, comfortable conversations that support staff growth and development

We’ve just scratched the surface of all there was to uncover at Elevate 2025. Did we miss anything you’d include?

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by Xplor Gym

  • First published: 23 June 2025

    Written by: Xplor Gym