Newsletter August 2008

Click here to view the August Newsletter

Welcome to the August issue of the Gladstone Newsletter!

Hello,

As you are no doubt aware, we are living in an era of unprecedented opportunity for the development of sport and physical activity in the UK. The 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth games will present the UK with two amazing opportunities and fantastic legacies of world-class sporting facilities. Perhaps most importantly, they will create more tangible opportunities for our young adults to get more physically active.

With this in mind, and as a Corporate Member of the Fitness Industry Association (FIA), I fully endorse the recent Department of Health's Fit for the Future plan to pilot a youth activity programme for young adults aged 16-22.

The £1m pilot is scheduled to be launched in April 2009 and will be delivered by both independent and local authority gyms who are FIA members. If the pilot is successful the programme could be expanded to the rest of the UK.

The proposed programme will provide tens of thousands of young people from low income groups with full access to modern facilities - ranging from swimming, dance, aerobics, cycling, rowing and resistance training - in addition to the expertise of trained teams of fitness professionals. In real terms the Government programme will offer subsidies of an estimated £25 per person per month to those gyms who offer workout and exercise programmes for young adults. It will target mainly youngsters from deprived areas, who will be selected for the subsidised gym membership by their local authority.

I am pleased that the "Fit for the Future" plan has been broadened to include the independent gym sector. This growing segment of the UK market is not always fully recognised or adequately supported technology-wise in such a competitive industry.

That is why Gladstone has invested considerable R&D resources over the last 18 months to create more flexible and powerful on-line customer service solutions to support these growing independent companies just as we have extensively served the solutions requirements demanded by large groups in both public and private sectors. By harnessing the power of the Internet we can help these gyms to offer more comprehensive services comparable with enhanced customer service provision offered by larger leisure facilities. These include providing their customers with the ability to book and pay for their next leisure activity, be it a squash court or a sauna session from home, or in the office over lunchtime, with our Gladstone Connect solution. In addition, our Gladstone Kiosk solution provides customers with the ability to easily book, pay and collect tickets for their next activity, such as a swim or a dance class lesson on-site.

We believe that these web-enabled solutions will help drive increased levels of customer satisfaction, through better queue management at reception desks. They will also provide gym owners with sustainable leisure management competitive advantage for the 21st century.

I believe that both the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth games will provide the UK with a timely boost and focus for our general health and well-being. This focus is long overdue, and Gladstone's key role as a Health and Leisure solutions partner will help the market meet the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

Meanwhile enjoy the 2008 Beijing Olympics games starting on Friday 8th August - and good luck to all the athletes!

Kind Regards,

Dr Said Ziai
CEO
Gladstone plc

Click here to view the August Newsletter

30 July 2008