Following the announcement last night about the closing of our gyms and our commitment to move on line and support members, we wanted to clarify the situation for our members regarding their membership fees.
As we have stated before, Simply Gym is a not for profit company based in Wales. In the 9 years we have been operating our gyms we have re-invested all our profits and maintained, what we believe is, a fantastic low price for the quality and range of services we offer to our members.
We are now faced with a global pandemic which threatens to destroy people’s lives but also destroy our business. Despite the UK Government’s announcements, about support with 80% of wages and loan schemes, we still have large costs which remain in our business including rents, equipment costs and other commitments – these continue despite our gyms being closed. This is why we are asking our members to keep their memberships current and not cancel or freeze them. It is not about Simply Gym making money but rather about us keeping the business afloat and being able to re-open our clubs when the situation improves. We all realise this situation is not going to be resolved in a few weeks.
We recognise that if members are still paying they deserve something in return. This is why we have sent out Les Mills on demand classes, have committed to a helpline for members, have a member App offering programmes and are planning an on line offering of work outs, programmes and other support which we plan to reveal over the coming days. We genuinely believe that maintaining physical activity during these times is vital for physical and mental health and we are committed to helping members with this. We are also committing to a “Price for Life’ for all members who keep their membership current.
We also know these are difficult times for everyone and some people may not be in a position to continue to pay. If this is the case, we are offering all members the ability to freeze their membership, at no cost, until the clubs re-open. As we don’t handle the direct debit payments directly, these changes will need to be made through Harlands. Harlands can be contacted by email on c.service@harlandsgroup.co.uk or by calling 0144 444 9156.
Due to the announcement by the Prime Minister, Harlands are understandably very busy and we ask member’s patience if they do experience any delays when contacting them.
We hope this clarifies the situation and also makes clear the severity of the situation we face both as individuals and Simply Gym as a business. We hope our members can support us but recognise the challenge we all face as a country.
We would like to thank all of our members for their support to date and particularly for the positive messages of support we have received in the last few days – it is very much appreciated. Together we are stronger!
Stay strong, stay safe and we will all get through this.
