Introduction to sub-sector

Health and fitness industry is one of the growing industries in United Kingdom. There are so many organizations in this sub-sector. The people and women are becoming more attentive towards their health and fitness. Aradia Fitness is one of the largest players in the industry, but it is finding it very difficult to appeal new customers and retain existing customers due to intense competition. The major competitors are such as; Good life Fitness, The Athletic Club and some other local gyms and fitness centers. This report examines the macro environmental factors, which are impacting the industry. PESTLE analysis is conducted by recognizing the factors, like; political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. Furthermore, it includes the description about the Aradia Fitness London and how the growth and strategic decisions of this organization is impacted by these macro-environmental factors.

According to the UK Fitness Industry Report, 2017, the health and fitness industry in UK is growing continuously. This growth is mainly driven from private clubs. Currently, there are more than 9.7 million members in fitness centers in United Kingdom that has enhanced the rate of penetration to approximately 15%. One in every seven people in United Kingdom is member of a fitness center or gym (LeisureDB, 2017). This report states that this sub-sector has experienced one more year of remarkable growth. The annual memberships have increased from 12% to 13% and there is an increase of 1.5% in number of health and fitness facilities. The major players in the industry are Aradia Fitness, Goodlife Fitness, The Athletic Club and Pure Gym and other local gyms. New entrants in the industry are facing pressure from some well-settled wellness chains, like; esayGym, The Gym Group, Pure Gym (Lagrosen & Lagrosen, 2007).

There are different trends, which are supporting the growth of this sub-sector in United Kingdom. One of the major drivers has been the increase in technology. There are many Information Technology companies, which are developing new fitness apps and other technologies, which can be worn (Macintosh & Doherty, 2007). Wearable technology involves smart watches, activity trackers, tracking devices and heart rate monitors. It has improved the fitness experience of customers and assisted in increasing the retention rates of gyms and fitness centers. People’s attitude towards health and wellness is shifted (Armstrong & Cunningham, 2012). Now, the people think that exercise works as a medicine for human health. With the increase in health consciousness and disposable income levels, fitness centers and gyms in UK registered more than 9 million members across the country (LeisureDB, 2017). Obesity problem has a large impact on the fitness clubs. In UK, there is fear about the increase in the obesity problem in children. It will lead the gyms in the expansion of their programs for younger generation (Pedragosa & Correia, 2009).

A Macro environmental analysis includes examination of elements and connections in the company’s widest environment. Methodologically, macro environmental factors can be divided into political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors (Oliver, 2006). Political factors chiefly include the level of legislation in individual countries, labor regulations, law enforceability, political stability, environmental standards, and work safety standards, etc. The Economic factors include basic macro-economic indicators: unemployment, interest rate, inflation, and the development of the domestic/national product. In terms of social factors, the subjects of analyses are basic demographic characteristics (population age structure etc.), trends in consumers’ preferences , such as an interest in a healthy lifestyle, level of education, culture, access to leisure, etc. The main monitored technological characteristics are the speed at which technologies get obsolete, investment in research and development, etc. (Oakley, 2015). Furthermore, the legal factors include the laws and regulations and taxes. Environmental factors include business and natural environment.  

Macro-Environmental Analysis

A PESTLE analysis is used as a strategic tool to measure industry dynamics through recognition of the core political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental forces/changes having influence on the industry (Eden & Ackermann, 2013).

There are some political factors in UK, which impact the growth of health and fitness industry in UK. In this country, there are little tariffs and trade restrictions to be worried about. In the fitness centers, many of the employees are working as part-time employees. Currently, the government is motivating the parents to do work at least on part time basis (Ferrand, Robinson & Valette-Florence, 2010). Due to this, health and fitness industry can see the growth in workers in the industry. There are various political initiatives, which influence the industry significantly. Different campaigns and initiatives of government are influencing the people to live a healthy life style and enhance the fitness. These initiatives are encouraging the community to purchase the memberships of fitness centers.

The wage rate and prices of different equipment can hinder the operations of the players in the health and fitness subsector (Nichols, Taylor, James, Holmes, King, & Garrett, 2005). Besides that the growing economy and stable economy can encourage people to invest on their health and do not consider as a burden or an irregular expense. The authors state that rising price of raw material goods in relation to the need to source from sustainable suppliers, which relates to the changing consumers budgets, rise to the cost conscious consumer, the price the business is offering for its membership fees and products need to be of a reasonable price so it can attract more members to the establishment (Mckenzie, Chiliya & Chikandiwa, 2016).

Lifestyle is very important but the growing trend of fast food and restaurants has made the obesity and other illness quite common among different age groups. People are not finding of doing any sort of exercises and the busy schedules have made it further difficult to focus towards health and fitness (Masterman, 2004). There is an increasing demand from old people for health and spa treatment. These growing demands are leading to new and innovative opportunities and extensive modification in health and fitness industry.

Up to date technology has allowed the clubs in the industry to keep up with the growing trends and use modern equipment and innovative machines in their fitness centers (Matthews, 2012). However, with the growing technology promotion has also become viable and effective. Apart from this, social media has also created more awareness and health consciousness so more people are wishing to go gym. Now, fitness clubs are using different techniques, like; email alerts for communication and they are using online booking for classes (Lumpkin & Stoll, 2011). In UK, the health and fitness industry is modifying with new online personal programs and ways to communicate with the health club. This technology advancement will enhance the growth of industry in the future.

In the analysis of health and fitness industry, it is not unexpected that safety and health laws are both restrictive and abundant as well. In United Kingdom, it is very necessary for all the fitness centers to comply with fundamental health and safety legislations. All the physical trainers and dieticians should have appropriate qualifications (Barney & Hesterly, 2015). The gyms have to comply with all the tax laws and other formalities.

PESTLE Analysis

The players in health and fitness industry have to understand the relationship between business and natural environment. The fitness centers should comply with the environmental regulations. In UK, now the gyms are going green by engaging in energy reduction, recycling and waste management (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). They are trying to become environmental-friendly. The weather is the external impact, which will define the failure or success of the business in terms of competitive advantage.

Aradia Fitness is offering different licensing opportunities to the females, who are interested in being an important and profitable part of Aradia Fitness Business. Aradia Fitness started operating in Vancouver by Tracy Gray and Christine Boyer in the year 2003 to provide a facility where females can practice and learn pole-dancing studio. This group introduced the pole program for women for a fun and safe alternative to fitness (Behance, 2017). There are many competitors, who it very hard for this fitness club to attract new customers. The business saw growth and till now the company has expanded across North America with opening 21 franchises and serving a clientele of around 100,000.

The operations of Aradia Fitness London started after 2 years of beginning of the studio in Canada and it has become one of the most appealing fitness studios in the country. Andrea Tiemey started this new project with a small area of space, but after some time, the studio was shifted in a large space (Aradia Fitness, 2017). This new space serves the customers with ten poles and fitness classes are planned more than one time in a week.

The major goal of Aradia Fitness is to assist and support the female customers to become beautiful and strong (Shank & Lyberger, 2014). It will fulfill every single requirement, which the clients will have, like; professional trainers, equipment and therapies. Their team is doing their best to make this organization be one of the top fitness players in Canada. The mission statement of Aradia Fitness London states that they are willing to assist the people to change and improve their life through exercise. Their professional and responsive staff supports and motivates the clients to stay healthy, powerful, confident, and flexible and stay enthusiastic towards life. Now, it is using TRX program to appeal new clients and retain existing customers (Aradia Fitness, 2017).

The functions of Aradia include introducing new program in their fitness studio. The organization is implementing TRX suspension programs, which will increase the worth of studio. The structure of the Aradia Fitness includes different levels of management. There is an owner of the studio and he manages all the levels (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2012). There are so many expert trainers, physiologists and dieticians in the studio, who gave suggestions to the clients.

The fitness club targets only female customers, who belong to a higher age and middle age groups. It is serving the females ranging from 16-60, who are middle aged women and students (Bates, 2008). The target market mostly resides in London, Ontario as the majority of the people are from the neighborhood. The customers are very concerned for health and they want to seek fitness for looking attractive and motivated for pole dancing. The psychographics of these females suggest that they seek sensuality and are more likely to adopt alternative ways to remain fit and aims to look beautiful and attractive (Aradia Fitness, 2017).  The target market as stated are mostly females that are seeking sensuality and fitness which is why the club has positioned itself as a hub to provide alternative fitness with an ability to provoke their sensuality.

Political

The above-mentioned macro-environmental factors impact the growth of this organization in United Kingdom (Rothaermel, 2015). The growth is influencing both positively and adversely as well. The strategic decisions of the company are also affected by these factors. Strategic decisions are the decisions, which are related to entire environment, in which an organization operates its business, all the resources and the people who create the company. The major strategic decision of this fitness club is to launch new services and provide fitness services to men also (Andreasson & Johansson, 2014). The organization is using different effective strategies, like; cost leadership and product differentiation. There are some external factors, which impact the growth of Aradia Fitness Club. The organization has to follow all the rules and regulations of government. The campaign and initiatives of government can encourage the people to join the Aradia fitness center. The females can join the centers along with their children (Bill, 2009). Government funding can assist this fitness club in installing more poles and expanding its business in other fitness activities.

In UK, the government is launching different campaigns, like; get set for life, active kids, swap it etc. These can influence the people in taking membership of the club. Changes in the income levels of the people can affect the number of members in fitness club. The attitudes of people are changing to their health and diet. As a result of this the country is seeing an increase in the number of people towards fitness clubs and there is a demand of organic ad natural food. The organization wants to achieve its strategic decision by providing best services in the country. It has its services out of this country (Thompson, 2016). In the country, there is decline in inflation; it means the clients have more disposable income to expend on luxury services, like pole dancing and fitness club membership. Aradia may have the benefits from social media and technology advancement. Thus, these factors can impact the enhancing the role of trainers in the organization. Implementation of employment laws and increase in the wages can assist the club in retaining the trainers for long term (Berry, 2015).

Furthermore, technological factors can be very useful in attracting more customers in the club. It should use new and advanced machines and equipment in the organization. It will help the organization in attract more customers. It will increase the revenues of the fitness center. When the organization will follow all the health and safety regulations and legislations, then it will be able to reduce the chances of injury in the club (Walch, 2015). The expert trainers will train the people effectively. Thus, it can be said that the macro-environmental factors impact the strategic decisions of Aradia Fitness Club.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that health and fitness industry in United Kingdom is very competitive. There are many players in the industry. Aradia Fitness is one of the largest players in UK health and fitness industry. There are some well-established players, which are making it very difficult for Aradia to make more customers and get a better position in the industry. There are so many external factors, which impact the growth of industry positively or adversely. These factors are; political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental. These factors can help Aradia in achieving its strategic decisions in the future. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that organization can perform its operations in the industry by complying with these factors. The organization is targeting the female group primarily. Thus, macro-environmental factors are the factors, which are from outside the organization and include the external forces.

Economic

The health and fitness industry in United Kingdom is facing some issues due to environmental factors. The industry should follow all the forces and focus on the current trend in the market. Aradia Fitness should develop some alternatives to deal with its strategic decisions. For attracting more customers in this competitive environment, this organization should offer group discount on its services. This will be affordable for sporting group and it will be profitable for Aradia also. It is suggested that the company should implement the second option of Common TRX levels as an initial strategy which is not for the long run but should be accounted for the short run. This will be beneficial for the company. In the PESTLE factors, the company should try to go green, because people generally attract towards the organizations, which go green and engage in corporate social responsibility. The organization should implement effective strategies to improve the environment of gym or fitness center. As the Aradia is targeting the women segment primarily, so it should focus on the safety of women. It can improve the situation of Aradia in health and fitness industry in United Kingdom.

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