Back in March we asked current, past and non-members of Bloomsbury Fitness, our Students’ Union gym, to fill in our survey and tell us what they thought of the space and how we operate.
In total, we heard from 241 of you: 44 past members, 105 non-members and 92 current members, so a massive thank you to everyone who contributed. We value your feedback and will be using this information to make the gym as welcoming and user friendly as possible. We’re still busy working through the numbers, but these are the key stats that have jumped out at us so far…
You told us
43% of current Bloomsbury Fitness members think our prices are ‘excellent’
We’re pleased to hear this because everything we do in our commercial spaces (gym, cafes, bars and shop) is led by our four promises, and one of those is our promise to be better value than the high street.
We try to keep costs as low as possible, and hold offers at different points in the year to allow all students the opportunity to sign up for a membership. We’re glad this was recognised by the majority of respondents.
40% of current members haven’t visited a women’s only session… but those who have, really rate them.
We started our women’s only sessions, which take place every Wednesday morning (7.30am – 9.30am) and Sunday evening (19:15 – 21:00) because we wanted to get more women involved in physical activity and break down any barriers that may be stopping our members from being active. There are also religious and cultural factors to consider. We got lots of positive comments on these hours, such as:
‘They make me feel safer and comfortable to do exercise. I’d be less confident to do during normal hours'
So, following the feedback, we will be continuing with these hours for the time being.
Non-members told us… ‘HIIT, Total Body Workout and Yoga’ were the top 3 classes they’d want to see on the class schedule
Yes, we agree they’re great. And ta da, here’s our new summer timetable featuring all three. We will also make sure we focus on including a mix of these classes when we launch the new schedule in September 2022.
What we're working on
Customer service
25% of current members rated our customer service as ‘very good’ and 22% ‘good’
We were pleased with this score but want to do better, which is why we’re busy putting new processes in place. Most importantly, the quality of customer service will be one of our main priorities as we recruit and train staff next year.
We also aim to significantly improve our email response time and quality of customer service with an increased student staff intake for Term 1… so watch this space! Not only that, we also have a brilliant new gym manager, Jordan, who is making loads of positive changes.
Locker facilities
There was one big issue for current members and that was our lockers! 31% of you rated the locker facilities as ‘poor’ and we know that’s just not good enough for a gym where you should be able to safely tuck your valuables away. Comments included:
‘Oh my god, please sort these out! There are so many lockers, but you have to work through them all to see which ones work.’
We promise that fixing the lockers is very, very high up on our list of priorities and we will update you when we have made progress on this.
General maintenance
Current members rated our maintenance as ‘good’
But we want to improve on this, so we've started a new process for how we log maintenance issues - with those broken lockers top of the to-do list!
Following your feedback, we have also already implemented new lighting on the gym floor, and have received a quote to fully refurbish both the men’s and women’s toilets, showers and changing areas. We also plan to redecorate the reception area and re-paint the squash courts over the summer.
Additionally, we will soon be launching our Bloomsbury Fitness student user group, where current members can be our eyes on the ground and offer feedback at regular intervals. If you ticked a ‘yes’ in the survey when we asked if you’d like to be part of a group to help improve the gym, then we will be in touch shortly!
The Bloomsbury Fitness App
42% of you have never downloaded the Bloomsbury app but 55% of you ‘definitely would’ book classes via the app
We know the app needs updating. This is also something we’re going to work on and improve over the next few months. So, moving forward, you should be able to book into a class via the app rather than phoning the reception desk, or just turning up, something we hope will make your lives much easier.
In terms of other changes and improvements, we will continue to update you of our progress over the summer. You could also follow along on our Bloomsbury Fitness Instagram page.
And last but not least…
At the end of the survey we asked you to give a shout out to any staff members at Bloomsbury Fitness who’d gone above and beyond to make your gym experience a positive one. There was one name we heard a lot: Daniel, pictured below, who teaches boxing and kickboxing.
Comments included: 'Daniel has been a great instructor in the gym and in the fight club classes' and 'Daniel is always very kind!' So well done Daniel for being so awesome!