Leisure-net Solutions Ltd Publish their National Post Lockdown 2.0 Recovery Survey

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns resulting in the closure of leisure centres and health clubs across the UK, has been an unprecedented event for the leisure, health and fitness sector, and has presented major challenges financially and operationally.

More than 33,000 people from across the UK have responded to this survey conducted by Leisure-net, in partnership with 4global's DataHub, designed to gauge what leisure, health and fitness members want and expect from the health and fitness sector after lockdown. Sixty-four operators from across the sector, including private gyms, leisure centres, health clubs and universities, distributed the Post Lockdown Recovery Survey to their customers to understand what has worked during lockdown, how customers are planning to respond when lockdown is reversed and what types of actions they expect from operators to keep them safe.

Key Takeaways:

The number of people using the gym before lockdown 2.0 is much less than back in June

• Walking is still the main activity undertaken outside of the centre/club prior to lockdown
• Activity levels have significantly dropped compared with during lockdown 1.0, with 69% of respondents stating that they have been less active since the lockdown, compared with 52% during lockdown 1.0
• Walking has become even more popular during lockdown 2.0 with other activities like cycling, running and using online classes reducing in popularity
• The number of people doing regular workouts at home has significantly reduced coming down from 46% to just 30%
• Only 24% of people who track their steps say that their number of steps has increased, compared to 38% in June 2020
• 69% of respondents said that they had purchased a piece of home exercise equipment, the most popular piece being free weights at 31% followed by exercise mats at 26%
• Over three quarters of respondents stated they intended to return to clubs immediately, another 21% saying January/February and only 3% saying never
• 69% of people say they are "extremely confident" after returning to their centre/club, with only 12% saying that they were "not confident at all"
• The sector has a Confidence Indicator Score (CIS) of 50%, calculated by the % of "extremely confidents" (62%) minus the % of "not at all confidents" (12%)
• Younger age groups are generally more confident in their return than older ones, but there is little difference between genders
• The main single reason customers will be using their centres/clubs less is because they will be doing outdoor independent activity, although this has become less of a factor compared to the lockdown 1.0 survey
• Over half of customers still state they will value their centre/club more when they return, a figure very similar to June 2020
• 39% of customers state they will be prepared to spend more time on being active when they return, a figure down from 43% during lockdown 1.0
• Customers feel significantly more comfortable about returning to their centre/club than to other public places, compared to June 2020

The infographics and information in the full report share the full picture click on the link below to access the full report.