Fitness First is one of the leading health and fitness groups worldwide. Since it began in the UK in 1993, the Fitness First Group has expanded rapidly and now operates in 16 countries across three continents. Fitness First has undergone extensive improvements to reposition itself in the market as a fitness leader and industry expert. These improvements include a dynamic change to branding and high investment in its people and facilities.

Fitness First created a system named “Inspire” to support their underpinning people promise to “be inspirational”. Inspire is a multi-purpose learning and communication system that connects club teams, employees, personal trainers and support office staff “anywhere, anytime, on any device”.

Through its combination of functionality as well as learning, social and communications capability, Inspire is currently one of a kind and is something organisations could benchmark their future technology against. Having the ability to learn on multiple devices has shifted the way employees undertake learning at Fitness First. The ability to own and access their learning at any time has created flexible, informal experiences that change how employees gather knowledge.

The launch of Inspire has created a number of social and environmental benefits for Fitness First, its employees and its community. These include the creation of a culture of inclusion, increased access to safety information and a reduction in printed materials. Integrating Inspire into Fitness First is a project that will take another 12-18 months. Insights gathered through the launch of Inspire and the following review process have enacted change in how Fitness First operates as a business. Some of these changes have altered the approach to how Inspire is being implemented, some to the way the HR Team function and others have impacted other business units and initiatives.