Andrée Deane FIA – Ian Freeman/Liz Terry - HCM

Andrée Deane, the FIA’s chief executive for almost two years, is clearly delighted to be in her job. Not that she’s the type to punch the air in triumph – as she was doubtless prone to do in the days when she was a 10,000-metre runner and county hockey player – but her love for what she does is evident, even through her serene, unruffled exterior.

Deane’s FIA is currently spearheading a three-year plan which aims to consolidate the association’s position at the top of its game. “Any business plan involves blood, sweat and tears” says Deane, “but what’s important is that, as a trade association, it’s all about our members.

“We started by consulting with the 30 top operators eight months ago. We have a clear focus and anything that doesn’t fall into the strategy has to be considered white noise.”

Founded 16 years ago by powerhouse industry veteran Harm Tegelaars, the FIA was initially charged with getting health and fitness a profile with central government. When Deane joined in 1999 - originally for two days a week as executive chair – awareness of the association was low.

Her full-time appointment 18 months later led to the formation of the FIA Vanguard Group, a consortium of 22 select operators and suppliers which, Deane is anxious to point out, works for the benefit of the entire industry.

“The group works to influence government and ensure FIA members are protected against legislation that may affect the commercial viability of their businesses” she says. Vanguard members’ fees - £15,000 a year for platinum membership and £7,500 for gold - go towards four full-time researchers and the continuing lobbying process. “Vanguard is a networking group whose members also act as the industry’s ambassadors to government.”

Becoming a government delivery partner is uppermost on Deane’s to-do list and she is putting serious firepower in place to move it forward. She revealed exclusively to us that former sports minister Richard Caborn, who will resign his Sheffield Central seat at the next election, will join the FIA as parliamentary consultant.

In the course of his 12-days-a-year post, Caborn will chair the Vanguard Group’s policy forum, attend board meetings and guide the FIA on public affairs. David Davies, the former boss of the Football Association, who sits on the board of the Beijing Olympics and is involved in London 2012, also serves as a consultant.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement in January of a major governmental focus on preventative health follows a meeting with Deane at No. 10 when she discussed with Brown the need to acknowledge the importance of exercise and the role FIA members can play in delivering objectives.

“He had several ideas to encourage people to exercise, such as income tax incentives, but subsidising referral schemes was one of those favoured” says Deane. Various proposals are now in development and Deane will be meeting with Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health, to move forward the creation of a plan to bring physical activity to the forefront of preventative medicine. “Our role” she says “is to tell government that we can help them deliver their targets if they invest in us.”

But how does Deane intend to overcome the public’s natural cynicism? “The medical profession are often dismissive of instructor qualifications, but the Department of Health are intent on helping” she says. “They are looking to redraft the national quality assurance framework for exercise referral schemes - I was one of the original authors eight years ago and it’s no longer relevant to today’s industry. And our members need to go out into the community and make contact with their PCTs and other health-related bodies.”

One proposal is for a membership subsidy, where operators offer six weeks free membership to targeted individuals and the government then pays for them to continue for a fixed period. “We’ve been discussing specific groups, such as women between 16 and 24 and black and minority ethnic women, and others at risk of obesity” Deane says. “It’s great that the FIA is discussing issues such as this at the highest level and it would be a good start, but operators will have to look at how to retain them after the subsidy ends.”

Deane feels that, as the association has become known as a good deliverer of smaller-scale programmes such as ‘Commit To Get Fit’, government has recognised what can be done on a bigger scale. That will, in turn, help with commercial sponsorship by major retailers and manufacturers, rather than repeatedly returning to the same industry sources.

“I would like to see Gordon Brown leave a legacy of having been the national wellness champion” Deane says. “We need the medical profession’s help, but they tend to be clinically biased. We have to change that, to ensure that the right level of instructors are working with the right target groups. The majority of the population that are inactive do not have serious health problems and do not need medical intervention. We need to employ people with medical qualifications, who understand our sector, as consultants and advisors.”

But does Deane reckon industry employees are up to it? Sure, we can talk a great delivery story, but how can we ensure staff and facilities do not let us down?

“It’s a concern” she admits, “but I’m less worried about the standard of instructors now that REPs is so well established. But there are a lot of other professionals in a fitness centre and there’s also the operation of the facility itself. This is why we are now auditing the code of practice and sending assessors out to ensure adherence.”

By the time you read this, Deane should have had 400 clubs assessed, with a target of a further 600 by year-end which, she says “we will meet and which will provide us with mass. Inspectors are government accredited and have designed the criteria from our code, a process which has taken two years.

“There has to be discussion and communication to start with. We will nurture clubs through the process in the early stages, but I can foresee a time when, yes, we would kick operators out for failing to pass the assessment after we’ve helped them, otherwise the scheme has no teeth.”

I put to her that there may be clubs that don’t want to participate, especially independent operators who won’t want to pay the £460 fee. “When 2,500 clubs are all assessed and we’re running consumer campaigns alongside the government, involvement will become a no-brainer” says Deane, confidently.

The consumer publicity campaign is scheduled to launch in 2009. Currently the subject of discussion by a steering group, the final plan will be put to marketing directors of the chains and to single-site operators. The year-long campaign will concentrate on different diseases, tie in with charities and focus on individual towns on a rolling basis. Consumers will be lured into participating clubs by the promise of one month free, with the clubs exchanging footfall and free marketing materials for providing professional expertise, while consumers must agree to raise at least a little cash for the charity at the end of their training.

“It’s a very ambitious project which will aim to raise the profile of audited clubs - they will get prominence” says Deane.

Deane considers her 100 per cent representation objective - over 5,700 members - to be “massively ambitious”. “We’re not yet a household name, or even enough of an industry name” she says.

Single-site operators pay fees of £455, with chains making one payment of £455 and then £200 per site. “We started a membership campaign targeting single-site operators in November 2007 which has been very successful. We want to make sure we give value, and offer services that they can see the benefit of, such as bulk purchasing of utilities.

“Big companies sometimes don’t understand why we have legal helplines, cheaper insurance and monthly newsletters, but for single-site operators those are the most important things.”

It being the start of the year, the industry is set to take its customary media thrashing, with lengthy membership contracts, standards of service and quality of training the perennial target of national and regional hacks. But what can be done to improve the fitness experience?

Deane says “Clubs must become more user-friendly, more welcoming. We need to get people into an environment they wouldn’t normally enter.” Deane cites as an example the central London YMCA, a minute’s jog from her office. “They have classes in languages, jewellery design and wine appreciation, and an internet café.”

She is conscious, too, of the need to ensure the right messages come out of the FIA to the media. “Communication is key” she says. “We now have an FIA messaging group which will meet six times a year and we’ve learned about the need for pro-active media relations. We’re prepared this year for any tabloid onslaught!”

Deane is mindful, too, of the FIA’s own image and commissioned research among the top 30 operators. “The chains see lobbying as the most important thing we do, and thought we were doing it well given the climate. What is especially pleasing is that all levels of operators were totally united behind the code of practice.”

The new FIA board is scheduled to hold its first meeting in March and Deane is sincere in her enthusiasm for the new chair, and fit for the future. “Fred [Turok] says he hasn’t been this excited since he started his first LA Fitness club! I’m looking forward to seeing our key objectives successfully bedded in. We are ready for a potential change of government – I will be meeting with many Conservative MPs and they understand our sector. We have a formidable team. And I’m proud that we are now accessing around £400,000 of government funding, with other bids in and more to come.

“The more we funding we can source, the more we can give our members to grow their businesses.”

top