Training for a charity swim to the Isle of Wight was tough enough for colleagues Neil Harmsworth and Jamie Ward without the extra struggle of finding gyms that would let them use their services on an ad-hoc basis without committing to a lengthy membership. But it was this lack of flexibility that presented the management consultants, whose jobs meant they were often away on business, with their lightbulb moment.

“Our lifestyles were quite chaotic and gyms didn’t offer any flexibility,” recalls Ward. “We soon realised that there weren’t enough options for people who wanted to get fit without having to commit to a 12-month contract.”

But it wasn’t just the commitment that irritated the pair as they trained for their charity swim. “I used to hate going to the leisure centre – it was hard to find out how much anything costs,” says Ward, adding that the final cost would be shrouded in mystery until a customer service representative had pretty much signed you up.

“Everything is unknown and then you have to do health checks when you just want to use some weights and the health check would be, say, two weeks on Wednesday.”

Frustrated with the current gym set-up, the pair hatched a plan to create flexibility and transparency in the fitness sector. “Gyms do not make it easy for people [to just use their facilities], so that’s what we set out to do.”

Harmsworth and Ward looked at how they could add value for gym-goers by building a model aimed at modern lifestyles. After sourcing £300,000 in angel investment, they launched PayasUgym, a gym marketplace enabling fitness fanatics to buy day, week or month-long passes, across 95 gyms nationwide without having to pay a one-off joining fee.

Since its launch in 2011, PayasUgym has flexed its muscle in the fitness sector. Today the gym marketplace has 400,000 registered users. It also has 2,500 gyms nationwide, 30,000 classes and 410 swimming pools listed on its website. On average its gym passes are 21% cheaper than buying direct from the venue.

The business’s customers vary from people on business trips and gym-goers who don’t want to commit in the long term, to those wishing to road test their local gym before becoming a member.

However, surely the latter harms the business model? “We know that 20% of users eventually become members of a gym,” says Ward. “That’s fine – we’re not against membership to a single site if that’s what a customer wants. But we also know that 45% of gym members leave, so there’s churn in and out.”

However, with PayasUgym also offering studio passes among its services, how much of a threat is the growth of New York startup ClassPass, which lets subscribers attend a variety of classes at boutique studios and gyms? Ward bats off any comparisons. “We’re not massively fussed with the pure class market, we’re all encompassing with gyms, pools, etc. They’re a niche market.”

In a sector that has a tradition of long memberships, Michael Oliver – senior leisure and media analyst at market research firm Mintel – says PayasUgym is tapping in to the growing “pay-as-you-go” trend driven by consumers, particularly millennials, not wanting to be attached to anything for a long time. He adds: “There’s definitely more demand out there for increasing flexibility, just look at the growth in the self-employment market and the rise of homeworking and remote working.”

PayasUgym’s model has arguably also succeeded because health and fitness are very much in vogue – you only need to look on Instagram to see the staggering popularity of selfies of men and women showing off their abs in the gym or images of green smoothies to see how all things lean and green have become de rigueur.

“Friday night used to be about going down the pub and drinking because you’ve finished the week,” says Ward, himself a fan of reformer Pilates, swimming and squash. “Now culturally that’s changed. Many people are working out instead.”

As for the future, Fulham-based PayasUgym, which has secured £7m in funding so far, including a round led by Albion Ventures and MMC Ventures, is continually looking at new ways to innovate and disrupt the sector further.

“The direction we’re going in now is building a membership where customers could go spinning once a week at a venue but want to visit another place several times, and offering an overall package that costs less than if you joined both,” says Ward.

“It’s about offering multiple gym access but combining different products; it’s all built around the ethos of creating a membership that suits the customer.” They’re also looking to disrupt the fitness events market, too. “Events are quite independent and scattered. We’re in the process of signing up events and pulling them together and are looking at how we can build a unique offering there.”

PayasUgym is also exploring other ways to make the workout ultra convenient for busy consumers. “Our vision is that you don’t even need to think about your kit. You could visit the gym with no preparation at all – just book your spinning and there’ll be a kit ready for you.”

From clean kits to a new model for the fitness events market on the horizon, it’s clear that the forward-thinking Ward and Harmsworth have the mindsets to continue to push above their weight in a sector that shows no sign of slowing down.

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