In February 2018, Australian owned and originated Plus Fitness is set to open its 180th 24 Hour Gym Franchise and has simultaneously sold its 275th franchise territory in Australia alone. In addition to this, Plus Fitness has also sold two International Master Franchise Licences in both New Zealand and India with both markets displaying strong signs of early growth.

This remarkable achievement sees the brand become Australia’s largest and fastest growing Australian owned gym chain confirming Plus Fitness as a true ‘Australian Success Story’.

The first Plus Fitness was opened some 21 years ago by founding CEO John Fuller. John went on to open four more Plus Fitness gyms over the following years and in 2008 formed a partnership with Nigel Miller. With both having franchising the Plus Fitness brand set firmly in their minds there has been no looking back since.

After initially franchising the ‘Plus Fitness Health Club’ model in 2009, John and Nigel soon recognised that a change in the fitness industry was looming and set about remodelling their franchise from traditional ‘big box gyms’ to lower priced, more convenient 24 hour gyms.

After researching the 24 hour gym market, the pair developed a franchise model with some unique and appealing selling points to assist in gaining market share in what was becoming one of the fastest growing segments within the franchising sector. These included developing a true turn key franchise offering that presented exceptional value, inclusive of everything from gym equipment to fit out, franchise training and support to marketing.

Added to this was a low staff model and an exclusive territory for each franchisee protecting them from any future market saturation. With the continual support of a committed team of industry experts headed up by two of the most experienced operators in the fitness industry in Australia, it is then no surprise that along with a lot of hard work Plus Fitness has be-come the ‘Australian Success Story’ that it is today.

At the official launch of the ‘Plus Fitness 24/7’ franchise model at the Sydney Franchise Expo in 2011, John and Nigel sold five franchises ‘off the stand’ in three days and the pair have gone from strength to strength since then. They are always seeking to further develop their infrastructure, franchise support and consumer offering. With a Head Office team made up of what they refer to as ‘Support Specialists’, John and Nigel repeatedly reference the passion and hard work of their team as a large part of their success.

When asked what has contributed to such impressive and sustained growth a number of key points were raised with John specifically referencing that, “Multi Unit franchisees now represent a high percentage of our network which is something we are very proud of. Our franchisees ability to expand their portfolio of franchises is a testament to their hard work and the success of the model and we are seeing more and more franchisees drive exceptional results from multi-site ownership.”

When asked what was one of the most important things to consider as a franchisor of a fast-growing brand, the response was unanimously a focus on ongoing franchise support and Nigel Miller had this to say, “Franchise support has always been very important to us and we constantly revisit how we deliver this to ensure that we are providing our franchisees access to what they need to succeed. We rely heavily on technology to assist us here with systems in place such as our online training platform for Franchisees and their staff, an online print management system for marketing support right through to our business management platform that enables our Franchise Support Managers to deliver targeted and effective support to their portfolio of franchisees.”

Plus Fitness has had its achievements widely recognised winning a number of prestigious awards. This includes being named as the Emerging Franchisor of the Year in 2013 by the Franchise Council of Australia. This was awarded in front of the Australian franchise community at the annual Gala Dinner held at Jupiters Casino and was described by John and Nigel as a “humbling achievement”. In addition to this, Plus Fitness have been ranked in the BRW Fast Starters and BRW Fast Franchise awards on a number of occasions and have also ranked as the Top Franchise in the Smart Company Top Franchise awards and were also the Smart Company 8th Fastest Growing Australian Company for 2013.

Plus Fitness Franchisees have always benefited greatly from a number of strong and longstanding relationships with leading, globally recognised commercial gym equipment suppliers. These ongoing relationships have enabled Plus Fitness to deliver a quality range of commercial gym equipment at incredibly competitive competitive prices for their Franchisees.

There is also no stopping the Plus Fitness team when it comes to innovation with them having recently launched their Plus Fitness member app on both iOS and Android. In addition to this Plus Fitness offer a range of Virtual Classes with their proprietary ‘Classes On Demand’ system which provides embers access to exercise classes 24/7. The ‘Plus Fitness Express Classes’ are also a recent addition to their ever developing service offering, providing 45 minute, instructor lead classes both on the gym floor and in their studios. Plus Fitness also have their own in-house media channel which can be streamed into each franchise with all the latest music as well as training tips from their brand ambassador, World Champion hurdler Sally Pearson.

Considering themselves Australia’s ‘fastest growing fitness family’ and with a new Plus Fitness opening every 21 days somewhere in the world, then if there isn’t a Plus Fitness near you now, there no doubt will be soon!

 For more information on either joining or owning a Plus Fitness then head to www.plusfitness.com.au.