Why is Puregym's staff turn over rate so high?

Ever wonder why there's always staff leaving and new staff members joining?

Nathan Townsend

2/1/20242 min read

Did you know that over 80% of new personal trainers only last 6 months before they pack it in?

I've been running my business at PureGym Preston for around 4 years now, and I ran one back in Liverpool before that too.

In that time, I've seen a whole lot of personal trainers and gym staff come and go.

It's probably something you've noticed if you've been a member of any gym for long enough.

See, it's not just Puregym Preston that has a high staff turn over.

It's every gym. The whole industry.

And in my opinion, there are 2 main factors for this.

Factor number 1:

The personal training qualification teaches you the basics on how to be a personal trainer, but not how to be a business owner.

You see, in most gyms across the UK, you may work part time for your gym to cover your expenses, but you'll be running your personal training business as a sole trader or a limited company in your spare time.

When you qualify to become a personal trainer,

They teach you anatomy, physiology, training principles, etc,

But they never teach you how to run a business.

I've seen 2 newly qualified personal trainers join the gym before.

One was a physiotherapist previously, and one was a car salesman.

In my opinion, the physio was a far superior coach due to their experience,

But the car salesman had a far bigger clientelle and ran his business far longer than the physio.

That's becasuse the car salesman knew all about marketing and how to run a business.

A sad reality, but it's true.

That's why so many great coaches get squeezed out of the industry.

They just can't adapt and develop their business skills.

Factor number 2:

The way most gyms in the uk are ran work actively against personal trainers.

When I first joined Puregym, like everyone else, I worked 12 hours a week for the gym and ran my personal training business with the remainer of my time.

The only issue is, the gym charged me £500 per month as rent to run my business.

How much did I earn from working at the gym?

£430 per month.

Meaning that as a new personal trainer in a new gym,

I was already in the negative.

This is the typical structure chain gyms use in the UK.

I'm sure the hours you work and the rent you pay changes over time.

But the principle has stayed the same during my time.

It's an uphill battle, but if you can run a good business, get your clients great results and be the best coach you can be, you can then start to actually earn a living.

That's what I did througout the lockdowns when I first joined Puregym Preston.

I was only in the gym for a total of 4 months due to the lockdowns closing us constantly,

But I managed to build a business strong enough that I could quit working for the gym part time and run my own business full time.

The reality is,

Not many personal trainers can manage to do this and sustain it, hence why the staff turn over is so high.

So now you know...