Zero down time and happy customers for the Gym Group

With over 130 gyms across the UK, The Gym Group is one of the country's leading gym providers, regularly used by tens of thousands of people.

A key part of the company's offer is that all of its gyms are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It gives customers maximum flexibility in choosing when they work out, but it places huge demands on facilities.

Delivering high standards

Gym Group facilities manager, Ash Challen, explains: "When our customers walk through the door, they want everything to look good and work perfectly. That of course means the gym equipment, but it also means the premises themselves.

"Having every site performing at the highest level is essential in making sure our customers are happy, but it's also a big challenge when we're open every hour of every day. Changing rooms and washrooms sit at the top of the list as they're one area of our gyms that everyone will definitely use."

A first step in making sure the washrooms are delivering to a high standard has been for Gym Group to choose showers that can stand up to thousands of uses every day.

Ash continues: "We use a range of Rada washroom products across our gym portfolio. All are really well designed and made which gives us confidence they can meet the high demands at our gyms."

A tailored service package

Gym Group also wanted assurance that the showers would continue to work as well as on the day they were installed. That was about customer satisfaction, but it was also about making sure it was meeting targets for energy efficiency and complying with health and safety requirements.

"Maintenance isn't a problem when you close, but we never close. We do, however, have short bi-annual shutdowns for general maintenance across our sites. As you can imagine speed and efficiency during these periods are key. We need our gyms back open and working as quickly as possible - any unplanned downtime potentially mean loss of services and that's just not an option for us," Ash says.

Rada has developed a preventative-maintenance service plan tailored around Gym Group's precise schedule. Rada's team inspects every washroom product to make sure they are operating safely and properly. If any problems are detected, they are corrected to prevent equipment failure, also helping to prolong product life and save costs. Work is backed-up with full reporting, giving Gym Group peace of mind its showers are complying with guidelines on infection and temperature control.

Ash adds: "Rada know their products better than anyone and have access to any replacement parts and components they need. They demonstrated they could deliver quickly and efficiently and hit our shutdown windows. That gave us the confidence that the showers would be safe, working perfectly and providing the best possible experience for our customers."