F45 franchisee on his studios coming back stronger after lockdown

"In regards to our members, we called up every single member, or anybody who's ever done a trial with us, to see how they have got on during lockdown," says Haydn Elliott, head trainer and co-owner of F45 Oxford Circus and F45 Soho

“Our journey together began from when Tristan and I became best friends at 14-years-old. We went to college together in Hertfordshire but then went down two different routes in terms of our careers. Tristan was involved in investment management, and I studied to be a personal trainer but moved into theatre marketing for two years as my family has a theatrical background. We then came to realise we wanted to get involved in the fitness sector, which we could see was about to boom. Tristan had previously done a lot of CrossFit, and I had done my fair share in personal training for a couple of years.

“After coming across F45 Training, we fell in love with the concept, the energy and what it represented, so we started looking into locations to open a studio. We found our first studio in Oxford Circus, which opened in July 2018, where we had an amazing first 18 months growing a very special community and team down there.

“We then won the best F45 in UK and Europe and had the opportunity to speak on stage at the World Conference in Las Vegas. We opened our second studio in January 2020 in Soho, prior to COVID-19 where we had a great start. Unfortunately, lockdown hit and we had to adapt very quickly, whereby we pivoted our whole database to our online network which was great and kept us going throughout.

“In regards to our members, we were constantly touching base with them, as Tristan, myself and our other studio manager, Adi, called up every single member, or anybody who’s ever done a trial or bundle with us, to see how they have got on during lockdown. We wanted to find out about their situations and whether they would be keen to come back, alongside trying to give as much support to them as and when we can.

“We finally reopened on 25 July, and it has been good, but we are taking it slow and steady. Due to COVID-19, there are a lot of corporate companies that aren’t coming back to the area right now, but we are being patient and trying to provide a high level of service and to the best of our ability, which we have always tried to do. This period has been difficult for everyone, it has been unprecedented and hopefully, for several generations, anything of this magnitude will never occur again.

“For us, we’re focusing on the next six months, and we are extremely confident that we will come out of this stronger as a business.”