renting room at Fitness First?

[muddi]

Has anybody rented or know anybody who has rented a room from fitness first?

I keep seeing them advertising rooms to rent in their gyms for self employed therapists at a fixed monthly rent - which includes room, heating and water - basically they provide the space and you provide everything else and you pick your own days/hours etc..

Im just wondering if anyone has any good or bad experiences with renting rooms here and if you think it could be a good move or a lot of money in rental for not a lot of clients/return??
They dont say on the website how much the monthly rental is, but just trying to find out as much independent info about them before making any enquiries with them.

 

[kazcasa]

Hi, I enquired last year about 1 in Sheffield. Contract was for 3 or 4 years! I think rent was about £100 per week and you would have to check if you can have non members coming in as they can be funny about it. I felt I couldn't be tied in for so long. Hope this helps. xx

 

[muddi]

woah - thats a long contract!!!

Oh and I never thought about whether non-members would be allowed. thanks x

 

[kazcasa]

Yeah it scared me. How do you know what will happen in 4 years?? They also only wanted me to do sports therapy no beauty so very limiting. xx

 

[nicolaluise]

I rented off fitness first back in 2002 ... I paid £1000 a month for the hair salon, it was mega tiny so I couldn't employ another full time stylist, non members were allowed and I was very busy, but I wanted to expand and they wouldn't allow so after 12 months I left. My experience was good but I wouldn't rent from them again. Hth and good luck x

 

[Clair78]

I currently rent a fitness first room and i find its good. I have been there 18 months and i pay £800 a month with no extra cost. I have found it great for a start up salon, they can be a bit picky over stupid things such as decor but all in all very good. In my opinion it keeps the cost low and you have a captive audience of clients. Depending on where the gym is located that be great too. The gym i am in is on a business park so again i have a captive audience there . I recently tried to expand to another fitness first but they wanted me to sign and start paying before i was ready and gave me no choice but to decline but that is just the health and beauty manager at head office.....she is a cow but you dont have anything to do with her once youve opened up. as long as youve got your funds and have your plan ready then it should go smoothly, my first one did i had no hassles.
My contract is for 3 years but there is a get out clause after 6 months with 1 months notice, so you can get out after 6 months if its not working out. Non members are allowed.
hope this helps xx

 

[fitchick2005]

i used to work for fitness first as a manager, from my personal opinion you can get better rooms for less than what they charge, they also have a tendancy to put the prices up without reasoning. and will rent out other treatment rooms to similar companies, meaning a conflict of interests! you will find that only a small percentage of members will come to you tho as thay expect it all to be in there membership!

 

[Curly Bamboo]

It depends on the gym and how the room is maintained.

If you are concerned about rent increase you can have a rent review clause in your contract which states how the increase will be calculated.

I use to rent from a gym (not Fitness First). The problem was maintenance, when something goes wrong it takes ages to repair.

Make sure you get your contract checked by a solicitor.

 

[muddi]

Thanks for all the advice - I know what I should be thinking about and what to look for now..
Just looking at all the pros and cons and set up costs etc at the moment, but I have more info now to think about, thanks guys x