Playing to their strengths, Christos is focused on driving the business forward and pursuing the greater vision of FACTR, while Rich is devoted to mentoring and developing a first class coaching team in order to provide the best fitness product that Chester has to offer.
Our Chester gym has a team of fantastic trainers who fully embody FACTR’s key motivations and are already working relentlessly to establish a world class environment for clients and trainers alike.
Frustrated by the confines of working in a commercial gym and spurred on by a strong belief that not only was the current gym model not doing enough to improve the lives of its members, but that it was also failing its fitness professionals, our founders, Christos and Rich, set out to make a change. The idea for FACTR was born.
The issue we identified with most gyms is that people are paying money to gain entry to a flashy building full of equipment and promises of getting you fit, but no substantial guidance on how to actually do so. Often, members have no idea how to use the equipment in a way that will ensure they actually achieve their ever evolving goals. Even if they can use the equipment, many are unsure of what programme they should be following, have no idea how to work around (or prevent) injuries and receive no guidance on how to make the vital nutrition and lifestyle changes needed to support their goals. Most importantly, these gym memberships don’t provide any sense of community, camaraderie or accountability, all proven to result in a more enjoyable and effective fitness journey.
We also recognised that the PT model currently implemented in commercial gyms wasn’t reaching its full potential, as the sales driven environment meant that the welfare and goals of our clients were taking second place. We felt unable to impact enough positive changes in the few hours a week we had with each client during 1-2-1 sessions to create the long-lasting improvements that we wanted to see in their health and fitness. Our clients needed more from their full gym experience.
Driven by the desire to find a solution to the dismal gym membership statistics experienced by the traditional gym model, we set out to build the antidote: a supportive customer focused gym environment, where members enjoy their workouts, feel supported, expand their social lives and above all, get results. FACTR exists, first and foremost, to deliver against the needs of our members. This is our number one motivation.
We’ve seen first hand how new trainers are being worked into the ground on the gym floor in order to deliver enough sessions to pay gym rent. This results in them having to make sacrifices. Often, these sacrifices mean they fail to educate and service clients in a way that successfully allows them to take control of their own fitness journey and establish a life-long relationship with their health and fitness.
It’s either that, or experience complete burnout forcing many trainers with huge potential to make the heartbreaking decision to leave the industry. Stats show that over 60% of newly qualified trainers leave within the first year.
Where they do succeed, there is no established career path and limited opportunities for trainers, especially for those who thrive off being part of a team and don’t want to go it alone. On top of this, personal training is a relatively new and historically unregulated occupation where self-employed trainers aren’t always mentored or provided with opportunities for CPD. Not ideal when you want to ensure your members are consistently offered a high standard of coaching.
Cue the FACTR employed PT model.
We want to ensure that our trainers feel supported from day 1 and are set up to grow and succeed as fitness professionals. We provide regular training and assessment to ensure we’re providing the highest level of coaching. Most importantly, we want to ensure our trainers love their jobs. We know that having a happy, fulfilled team is the best way to provide a premium service to our members.