General Manager
Fidelity Fitness Club
Total years of experience :20 years, 2 Months
• Appointed to lead and manage daily operations, leading a team of 30 plus staff to ensure monthly business objectives and targets were met and exceeded
• Steered and managed recruitment activities, including onboarding and training, driving performance management and ongoing coaching to develop team and create cohesive and positive working environment
• Monitored financial activity of the club, including P&L control, and turned around performance, identifying cost reductions/savings and delivering increased profit levels
• Identified and pursued new revenue streams, including the innovation of new fitness programs and products for members, contributing significantly to increases sales levels
• Championed the club from various perspectives, including promotional strategies, sales training, marketing, and business development, increasing membership, personal training sales units, revenue, and profit margin
• Reviewed operational processes and steered change, including the design and implementation of new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to drive performance enhancements and the reorganization of Fitness, Membership and Group Fitness departments, in terms of structure and operations
• Accessed and exploited multiple channels to cultivate ideas and optimize lead generation/member engagement, and decrease monthly membership attrition
• Led change within the Membership Sales teams, structuring daily KPIs to support increased productivity, introducing sales and product knowledge training, and revising responsibilities of the Membership Manager to monitor standards and sales processes
• Formulated and developed partnerships with local business and network groups, maintaining strong relationships to promote club brand within the local community
• Appointed to coordinate and manage the opening of a new and prestigious club within the center of Doha on behalf of the MTM Group, including the recruitment and training of new teams
• Led end-to-end project management of club design and concept, including layout, equipment requirements, fit-out, vendor negotiation and budget control, ensuring alignment with set budgets, timeframes, and latest fitness trends
• Orchestrated and managed pre-sales during the club’s first 6 operational months, ensuring achievement of membership and personal training KPIs
• Collaborated with CEO to develop and execute corporate strategies, providing project/strategy evaluations and regular progress/results reporting
• Created and implemented SOPs to drive high levels of performance and efficiency, ensuring delivery of exquisite customer service was delivered across all departments
• Led the innovation of product development to develop new revenue streams for the business, contributing to bottom line
• Managing all daily operations across 2 locations, with a team of up to 50 staff.
• Researched, developed, wrote and implemented SOPs to improve performance, efficiency and business growth throughout all departments, communicating and enforcing organization values.
• Researched, developed, and implemented new fitness and membership sales team structures to improve each department’s performance.
• Driving memberships and personal training sales and retention to meet or exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual targets.
• Designing new fitness programs and products to offer fresh innovations to members.
• Manage recruitment, training and performance management while coaching and developing staff to improve performance and create a team dedicated to delivering the highest standard of customer service.
• Personally launched and managed Premier Training International, the United Kingdom’s leading health and fitness industry training provider, first international academy, in the Middle East.
• Successfully negotiating a beneficial partnership between Premier Training International and Fidelity Fitness Clubs.
• Obtained documents, clearances, certifications and approvals from local agencies.
• Prepare and deliver lectures and workshops to health and fitness students in foundation through to advanced level courses and continual on-going development in fitness, personal training, nutrition and business; demonstrating a natural ability for teaching, mentoring students to succeed in the Health and Fitness Industry.
• Carrying out comprehensive student assessments to ensure they meet qualification criteria set by the education awarding body, Active IQ.
• Managing daily operations for the Dubai Academy, including sales and scheduling of courses and maintaining student records.
• Liaising directly with the UK based head office and the education awarding body, to ensure smooth running of the Dubai Academy.
• Managing daily operations of the Fitness Department across 2 locations, with a team of up to 30 Personal Trainers.
• Delivering the highest possible standards of personal training and customer care.
• Adhering to strict company policies and exceeding monthly, quarterly, and annual targets.
• Demonstrating initiative and commercial acumen by redesigning the fitness department structure.
• Delivering motivational leadership, leading by example to promote a positive and engaged team.
• Managing the Personal Trainer’s performance and conducting regular appraisals to set objectives, developing new processes for evaluation and goal setting which resulted in marked performance improvements.
• Consistently achieving year on year growth in personal training revenue through a tenacious and pro-active approach.
• Implementing new procedures and systems to improve performance within the team.
• Recruiting, training, and developing qualified fitness professionals ensuring the Fitness Department stays abreast of the industry trends and developments.
• Managing a team of up to 28 Personal Trainers and Fitness Instructors to deliver the highest standards of personal training, coaching and customer service
• Meeting and exceeding all set targets and KPI’s, both on a personal and team level
• Implementing up to date fitness trends and safety policies
• Creating and implementing a comprehensive in-club training programme for new and existing staff
• Providing a regular training program to ensuring all staff members are fully conversant with all health and safety regulations
• Monitoring smooth introduction for new members to the health club by the Fitness Team through the Triple Pack system.
• Instrumental in improving the fitness teams day to day interaction on the gym floor to a then company record 92% in member’s survey
• Carrying out weekly maintenance checks on all gym equipment to ensure compliance
• Providing one-to-one fitness training to clients of all abilities to facilitate the achievement of their personal goals through planning programmes using a wide range training
• Delivering group exercise classes, such as high intensity training and boot camp style programmes
Additional Modules in : - Nutrition and Weight Management - Clinical Exercise/Exercise Referral (Rehab) - Posture Analysis and Re-Training - Special Populations; Strength and Sports Conditioning - Lifestyle Management - Functional Training - Core Stability - Circuit Training - PT Business (including Sales and Marketing)