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SPORT: UK training course in body composition analysis from Tanita

Tanita is holding the UK’s first Tanita Training Academy this autumn in a bid to help those working in the fitness industry take a much more holistic approach when it comes to advising clients about how to lead fit and healthy lifestyles.

The Tanita Training Academy will provide a detailed overview of body composition and bioimpedance analysis (BIA) specifically so fitness professionals can provide a more enhanced and bespoke service for their clients. Registration is now open for half-day courses in London (26 September) and Edinburgh (24 October).

The course will cover the key aspects of body composition analysis including an introduction to the science behind the data, the main measurements the device can track and what this means in a real-life application. Those who attend will also learn where the equipment sits in the spectrum of accuracy and how it compares to other assessment methods.

The course will look at the ways in which it can be used by gyms for commercial purposes. Fitness centres will be able to offer members a more tailored and holistic approach to workouts, alongside an improved use of facilities and greater potential for cross-selling.

Those who complete the course will be awarded a CPD accreditation with CIMSPA worth 5 CPD points, which they can add to a CV or portfolio to show they can understand and interpret the data given by any Tanita device and use this when providing consultations to members/clients on training, health and wellbeing.

Simon Wilkinson, Tanita Training Academy course lead at Tanita, says:

Body composition monitoring has been proven to be the best way to accurately track your progress when you start a particular fitness or nutrition programme. It can give a much better picture of a person’s internal health compared with other methods, such as BMI or callipers.

For anyone who’s looking to adopt a healthier lifestyle but who isn’t seeing an immediate change in their body, using the monitor is a great way to feel rewarded for their hard work and helps them to stay motivated.

With the UK fitness industry now worth an estimated £5 billion^[1], gyms are looking to personalise and enhance the experience they’re providing members. Bioimpedance analysis is quickly becoming an essential part of gym life, with an increasing number of both independent gyms and large chains choosing to offer the service. Both David Lloyd and Virgin Active now include the use Tanita technology as part of a membership package.

The technology has a proven track record of directly increasing recruitment and retention of members, as it allows gyms to offer a more bespoke and personalised service to individuals. Simon continues:

Despite the rising demand, a high number of fitness professionals still lack the necessary knowledge to understand and interpret the data given by the equipment. The Tanita Training Academy aims to counter this deficit and to teach those working in the industry how to use the technology to help them and their clients develop personalised training programmes and facilitate real change to health and lifestyle.

Tanita body composition technology is used by medical and sports professionals worldwide, including the NHS, and it boasts the highest levels of precision and clinical accuracy of any body composition monitor on the market.

Tanita Training Academy info

Course attendance costs £120 (incl. VAT) and anyone wishing to attend should sign up online at https://tanita.eu/products/training-course
The day runs from 11am to 4pm and each session is limited to a maximum of fifteen people.
For those unable to attend the Tanita Training Academy in London or Edinburgh, the course can also be delivered on site at £500 day rate, provided five or more staff members sign up.

HEALTH AND SAFETY: Sports hygiene guidance from Sport England

Sport England has issued materials for distribution via social media and print, including posters, with sports hygiene guidance for everyone involved in sporting activity. Those responsible for training staff and for informing participants can use the free materials to spread the safety advice.

These materials have been provided by Sport England to be used as standard across all sporting venues and organisations in the country following new and very important hygiene guidance from the European Chemicals Agency.

All materials can be downloaded from the below link including posters, social media assets and an animation for digital use.

http://www.groundsmanship.co.uk/sportshygiene

STADIUM DEVELOPMENT NEWS: Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park stadium planning application; Harlequins in discussion

Scarborough Group International has submitted a planning application for a 3,900-capacity stadium which will host Sheffield United Women Football Club and Sheffield Eagles Rugby League Football Club at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.

The £5m Grandstand Facility will be built on the west side of the 3G pitch, which was completed in April 2017 and is also used by UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, Oasis Academy Don Valley and the local community.

Locally based Whittam Cox Architects, supported by Arup Sheffield, has been appointed to design the Stadium, which will include conferencing facilities, office space and covers approximately one hectare.

Mark Jackson at Scarborough Group said:

Scarborough Group is looking forward to working with all Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park stakeholders as we deliver the Community Stadium. This will be the start of an important phase in realising the vision of the Park, bringing forward significant private sector investment. We plan to start on site as soon as possible, once we have finalised the necessary documentation with Sheffield City Council.

Andrew Dabbs, Board Director at Whittam Cox Architects, commented:

We are delighted to be part of the process to deliver a proposal that will host two of the city’s most famous and influential sporting teams. The proposed scheme has been through a rigorous design process that has led to the formation of a strong, striking, unique and instantly recognisable piece of stadium architecture.

The development of technical details and selection of the materials palette is directly linked to the heritage of the city. We look forward to the project coming to fruition and the two teams establishing this as their home for many years to come.

Already on the 60-acre Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is the English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EISS), iceSheffield, Don Valley Bowl, Oasis Academy Don Valley, UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park campus, 3G pitch and park environment including Outdoor City Run Routes, cycle paths and green open spaces.

In addition, the site will be home to the Sheffield Hallam University Health Innovation Park, which includes the University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre and National Centre for Excellence in Food Engineering. This will be a pioneering place translating excellent research into practical innovations to tackle the world’s health challenges and significantly improve global health and wellbeing, UK productivity and export potential.

Stoop to 25,000

Alexandra Goldschmidt told City AM recently that, while still in the consultation stage, Harlequins are treating the redevelopment of their home ground, The Stoop, as a major project. The ambitious proposed expansion will increase the capacity from 14,800 to 25,000.

Talks with the council are ongoing and Goldschmidt said the timescale is still fluid, but the aim is to expand on behalf of the men’s and women’s teams at the club.

VENUE NEWS: Towcester Racecourse Company faces trading difficulties

The future of Towcester racecourse and greyhound track is uncertain after the owners said they were taking steps to put the business into administration.

Towcester Racecourse Company Limited said it was “currently experiencing trading difficulties”.

As well as horse racing, the venue in Northamptonshire also stages greyhound meetings, and scheduled cards have been cancelled.

For the past two years it has hosted the Greyhound Derby.

In a statement, the company said it was “in discussions with key stakeholders and professional advisors on the way forward”.

It added:

The directors have concluded that they have no alternative in the short term but to seek court protection and are now taking steps to place the company into administration.

Whilst inevitably there will be considerable interest from customers, supporters and suppliers, the directors ask that they be given time to focus on exploring other options for the business and they anticipate there will be a further update in the next few days.

The directors remain hopeful that despite the current situation, given the significant history of horse racing and more recently greyhound racing at Towcester, there will be significant interest from potential acquirers.

Image of greyhound track in front of Towcester racecourse grandstand

Towcester Racecourse Company diversified into greyhound racing

PEOPLE: Stadium Development Director for Everton

Colin Chong is the new Stadium Development Director who will oversee delivery of Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Chong has successfully delivered a number of large-scale projects and has been involved at a senior-level in stadium redevelopment projects at Old Trafford and the Manchester Commonwealth Games stadium, as well as the build of the DW Stadium.

He joined the football club from O’Rourke in 2016 as Head of Estates at Goodison Park.

Chong said:

I feel privileged to have the opportunity to play a key role in the delivery of what will be a great project, not only for Everton Football Club but also for the City of Liverpool.

The Club has already done a huge amount of work to get us to our current position, spending millions of pounds to make sure that any scheme we develop is right for the Club and our fans, that the design principles are right and, crucially, that it’s affordable.

This is a long and complex process, but we have put together a well-resourced team of internal staff and consultants to ensure we are able to drive this forward effectively.

Everton Chief Executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale said:

Whilst we have made progress on our plans for Bramley-Moore Dock – as well legacy plans for the Goodison Park site – there is a lot of detailed and complex work to do to enable our move to happen.

Colin has extensive experience in delivering stadiums and other large-scale capital projects and, together with our strengthened internal team and a best-in-class team of external advisers, we now have all the resource and expertise we need in place as we move towards the crucial planning phases.

A key part of Colin’s remit will be to ensure that we consult fully with all groups on both schemes – including finalising designs and capacity and developing the best possible legacy for Goodison Park – and we are entirely committed to doing this.

VENUE DEVELOPMENT NEWS: £4.8m new grandstand for Beverley Racecourse

Beverley Racecourse has submitted an application to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for full planning permission for the £4.8m development to replace the existing 1960s main stand which has rudimentary facilities and no disabled access beyond the ground floor.

Terracing in the new, fully-accessible grandstand will have tiered viewing areas offering a more casual and social experience for racegoers and bar and dining areas will be glazed so customers can enjoy excellent views onto the course and also back across Beverley’s picturesque Westwood.

The ground floor will feature a new entrance, a large open bar and new gaming area while the first floor will feature a high-quality bistro, for casual dining overlooking the course.

The top floor will provide an extension for the racecourse’s exclusive Premier Enclosure, with semi al fresco dining on a balcony offering unrivalled views of the scenic course. On non-racedays the grandstand will offer excellent facilities for meetings, conferences, exhibitions, dinners and other events.

Construction of the new grandstand will begin, subject to permission, in September 2020, with completion in April 2021.

Sally Iggulden, Chief Executive said:

These plans will provide the racecourse with the modern, fit-for-purpose facilities we need to meet the expectations of racegoers today and into the future, as well as having a competitive offer for other events.

Proposed grandstand for Beverley Racecourse

CRICKET FINANCE: Concerts subsidise sport – Gidney

Check out Andrew Alloia’s article on the BBC website about cricket’s need for alternative revenue streams, the graph below showing how ECB income makes the difference and Daniel Gidney’s comments about how 18-25 days of sport per year are not enough to finance a professional cricket club.

Research: Sheffield Hallam University. * Note: Accounts for Worcestershire (2014) and Middlesex (2016) could not be sourced.

When Gidney started his job at Lancashire in 2012, he recalls they were “coming off the back of a four-year run of cumulative losses of £9m”.

Advanced sales of £4.5m for the 2013 Ashes Test helped keep them afloat that year, but that money was gone before Gidney even arrived. Gidney:

Having Take That play here five nights in a row was worth an enormous amount of money and the club couldn’t have survived without it,” said Gidney of a club and venue that has staged concerts for more than two decades and which will host singer Liam Gallagher in August.

A lot of the purists perhaps don’t like that fact that concerts are coming more into cricket grounds, but it became an integral part of the business model here.

Sport for 18 to 25 days a year does not pay the bills – six days a year of international cricket determined whether we lived or died in that year. When I got here, I sat with the team and said ‘OK, deep breath, we have to be more than this’.

STADIUM DEVELOPMENT NEWS: Cambridge City FC’s new stadium one to two years away

Cambridge City FC club vice-chairman Terry Dunn has been given the specific role of stadium project director as the club expect to begin again on stadium development at its Sawston site. The club has warned that construction costs have risen since the first planning application and that cost-engineering will be required. Dunn told Cambridgeshire Live:

The costs have risen quite considerably going back to 2013 when the plans went in. It’s a sizeable increase, and while I can’t give any figures, it’s a multi-million pound development.

We’re hoping it will mean nothing more than the main and second pitches being tweaked a bit, along with some of the surrounding buildings, while maintaining the first class facilities for the main building as per the original plans.

The pitches won’t be reduced in quality, but it pays to look around and consult with some specialists.

We’re still hoping it will be just a one-season groundshare back at Histon, but as time goes on it may have to run into a second season. It’s delayed because the planning application went to appeal.

Computer rendering with stadium grandstand and pitch for Cambridge City FC.

Rendering of new stadium plans for Cambridge City FC.

FINANCE: Rugby and football clubs feature amongst top loss-making industries

Business analysts at Plimsoll Publishing have undertaken new analysis which highlights the UK’s worst-performing industries in terms of loss-making companies. Rugby Clubs and Football Clubs feature, with 45% and 44% of these industries respectively consisting of loss-making companies.

The findings were produced using data from Companies House, among other sources, combined with the Plimsoll Model; Plimsoll Publishing’s unique analytical tool which examines the financial health of a company using their previous four years of accounts. The results provide an interesting perspective on what could be the UK’s most precarious industries.

The following is a list of the 10 industries with the highest proportion of loss making companies in the UK:

Industry	% of companies making a loss
School Academies	59%
New Media	46%
Rugby Clubs	45%
Football Clubs	44%
Oil & Gas	43%
Newspaper Publishing	42%
Cycle Shops	42%
Onshore Wind Farms	42%
Footwear Retailers	40%
Solar Equipment Suppliers & Installers	39%

This information could have significant implications for companies involved in mergers and acquisitions. But it should also be of interest to managers in industries which are more heavily affected by shocks in their supply chains. Plimsoll’s senior analyst David Pattison said:

It is essential for business continuity that buyers in these sectors understand where supply chains may be vulnerable in order to put in place back up plans.

However, while the above figures may prompt consternation among stakeholders, Plimsoll points out that the key to interpreting company data is to look at wider industry trends rather than focusing on a single year’s figures.

There are many reasons why a company might report a loss, and these are not always down to poor performance.

Some companies may be investing heavily, paying out dividends or financing a sharp increase in sales. One isolated year might not be too troubling, but when the overall financial health of a company is affected this points to a more serious problem. Without having an overview of at least three years it would be unwise to jump to conclusions.

In order to make well-informed decisions, business leaders should take steps to understand the manifold reasons behind company losses and consider how to react to these accordingly in their own industries.