Phoenix Gym in Norwich was established back in August 2013, where the current owners took on the challenge of rescuing the business, buying it out of administration, to turn it around.
The original Oak St Gym first opened its doors back in 1998 with Wolf the Gladiator attending to mark the occasion.
It was a classic spit and sawdust gym, but has undergone a huge transformation with over 500k invested on the equipment and refurbishments over the last 10 years..
Mark, Lorna and Karl also took on the large unit next door, adding an additional 4.5k square foot. This provides an extra 3 rooms (5 in total) to enable the club to have multiple different training zones, appealing to a wider membership base.
In doing so, they wanted to create a high energy gym vibe, providing a much needed alternative to the traditional cold and clinical feel of corporate clubs, as well as modernise it’s equipment and facilities, to provide the best workout experience locally.
A lot of smaller private clubs can feel quite “hard core” so they wanted to create a gym experience somewhere in the middle, so that it had the best of both worlds.
A motivational environment with awesome equipment, but also professional services, facilities and customer service that people expect.
Shaun, one of the original founders of the club, all those years ago, is now part of the management team and still pours his heart, soul and positive vibes into the club experience for members.
INDEPENDENTLY RATED BEST GYMS IN NORWICH
Phoenix Gym now has 10 times the members than when they first took over. It is the largest independent club in Norwich and has been independently rated “The Best Gym in Norwich” for the last 7 consecutive years running.
The company Three Best Rated rank local businesses in each town. They check business’s reviews, reputation, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, proximity, trust, cost and general excellence, etc., using a 50-Point Inspection. They display only businesses that are verified by their employees. You could call it “Due Diligence” or “Common Sense”. Their website is updated on a regular basis for quality and latest business information.
Phoenix Gym Norwich has held this title for the last 7 years as they pay attention to the little things. They always focus on customer experience, listen to feedback and take relevant action to continually improve their services.
CLUB FACILITIES
- Member Parking – There were no member car parking spaces available at the time of taking over, but Phoenix now has 35 “all day” spaces and over 100 spaces early morning, evening and weekends.
- Changing and Showers – Both changing rooms have been extensively refurbished and provide showers, toilets, clothing benches and the ladies has private changing cubicles.
- Sanitise Stations – Phoenix provides 12 sanitise stations around the club for conveneince (most gyms provide only a few), all of which have blue roll, spray bottles to clean equipment, plus hand sanitiser.
- Foam Rollers, Belts and Bands – Phoenix provides multiple different types of foam rollers for pre and post workout self massage. Often members will also use these on less active “recovery days” to just keep loose and improve higher intensity workout days. Phoenix also provides a variety of lifting and dip belts, plus different resistance bands to save you bringing your own.
- Member App – Our member app allows you to see how many people are in the club at any one time. The app also allows you to book in advance (although booking is not necessary) and provides your personal QR code to scan into and out of the club at reception.
- Vending Machines – We have 2 vending machines. One has a large choice of snacks, protein bars, flap jacks, caffeinated and non caffeinated drinks, Lucozades and pre and post workout shots. The other provides nice and cold energy drinks such as Monster and also cold bottles of water.
- Water Machine – There is a water machine that you can either grab yourself a quick drink from or fill up your own water bottle to drink whilst working out.
SERVICES
- Experienced Staff, Happy to Help – A lot of gyms have staff that are stuck doing loads of classes on shift and can’t actually help members. Our staff are always available to help members on the gym floor, when you need it the most. Our team are genuinly happy to help and not just after getting personal training clients! A tip here and there can make all the difference to your results and consistency.
- Free Personal Training – To help members get confidently off the starting blocks and boost enjoyment, all new DD and annual members receive 2 free personal training sessions, worth £70.
- Free Guest Passes – All DD and annual members receive free guest passes every month, to workout with their friends, family members and or co-workers. Standard members get 1 x free guest pass per month and Premium members get a tidy 4 x guest passes per month.
- FIT3D Body Scanner – If you want to keep track of your body fat, muscle mass, measurements and visual shape, then we have Norwich’s only FIT3D Body Scanner. This provides quick and measurable feedback for motivation and progress and lets you know when you need to raise your game. Body Scans are £20 to non members, £10 to standard members and free of charge for premium members.
ATMOSPHERE
There have been hundreds of improvements thus far and the transformation is quite unbelievable! But Phoenix Gym members will all say the same thing, that the best thing about Phoenix is “the atmosphere”.
Everyone from the staff to the other members are friendly and so welcoming that you just feel instantly at ease.
People actually say hello, happily share equipment and take interest in your results.
It’s not like your typical corporate gym, where nobody talks to each other and people are on their phones and it’s not like a lot of smaller private gyms where it’s “clicky” or intimidating.
There is no pressure to look good or be fake, you can just be yourself and focus on your training with “good vibes” around you.
EQUIPMENT – Variety is the Spice of Life
Equipment quality and variety is so important to long term motivation. Good quality equipment is a pleasure to use, it helps you feel the muscles you are working on a lot better, which can be really motivational, plus having more than one way to exercise a certain muscle group prevents you from getting bored from doing the same things over and over again.
People say that the hardest part of going to the gym is actually getting to the gym in the first place and the “getting there” part is often determined by how good the equipment is and how the gym is laid out, for ease of use and how it feels.
Every time we install new equipment or make big refurbishments, we see increases in our existing members usage rates and they all say the same thing. We really look forward to going to the gym even more now and no two workouts are ever the same because there is so much variety on what we can use.
MOTIVATION
Having multiple options of all the main exercises, plus unique variations to choose from, prevents any long queues for a single piece of kit. This happens often in corporate gyms, so we ensured that when selecting and upgrading equipment that we prevented this common problem.
Phoenix has pin assisted machines, free weights plus a large selection of plate loaded equipment, for all of the main exercises, so that if something is being used then there are always alternatives.
Plate loaded equipment allows you to make both smaller incremental weight increases, as well as load up larger weights than a basic machine is limited to. Most of our pin loaded machines go up to 150kg, not 100kg, to provide more progression and prevent queues for the plate loaded equipment.
A lot of people hate training their legs, but leg training is so important for posture, body shapes and results, so Phoenix has a fantastic selection for leg equipment, which makes “leg day” more enjoyable and motivational. No skinny legs here…
If you have mobility issues and tightness in your ankles, knees, hips, back or shoulders, that prevent you from squatting, deadlifting or pressing over head with weights, then Phoenix has lot’s of alternatives to allow you to still get a great workout in, whilst working around or on your limitations to improve functional strength.
VALUE FOR MONEY
When deciding on the value of a gym membership most people think “how often will I use it” and therefore is the cost worth the usage? You also have to factor in enjoyment, convenience, opening hours, equipment and facilities provided including parking, which can all impact your perception of value.
When looking at usage stats for most corporate gyms with large membership numbers, you can quickly work out that quite often, less than 50% of their membership actually use the gym on a regular basis and around 10-15% of members quit every month!
At Phoenix Gym, we have over an 85-90% usage rate and only 5% attrition rate. So what does that mean? It means that you are twice as likely to actually go to the gym regularly and 3 times less likely to quit on your goals by working out at Phoenix Gym!
There is no point paying for an expensive spa/pool or only paying £10-£20pm for a gym membership, if you are not motivated to actually use it and more importantly get the results you want.
Here’s a secret corporate gyms don’t want you to know – They often sell the idea of going to the gym, hoping and expecting that you won’t actually go, whilst not providing a business model that actually makes you want to keep going back for more. This way they build up large amounts of inactive members, who blame themselves for not going, as they don’t know any better.
Phoenix Gym has a retention based gym environment as we are passionate about results and real value and not just making money.
