After recently becoming the first European gym chain to go public in over a decade, The Gym Group has racked up another industry first by becoming the only fitness operator to attain Investors In People Gold Accreditation.

Investors In People is a Kitemark associated with 'exceptional commitment' to staff development, and the attainment of the Gold Award – which only seven per cent of applicants achieve – reflects The Gym Group’s continuous efforts to improve its people management.

Since the company floated in November 2015, it has taken further strides to reward staff and recognise achievement, such as awarding shares in the company to all those on the payroll.

Having carried out an extensive assessment of The Gym Group’s practices in the middle of May, Investors In People concluded that the low cost chain is “a great place to work.”

“The Gym Group is an extraordinary company with a low cost and exciting business model that works for the general public and for the people that work for it whether they are directly employed or as the personal trainers, self employed,” read the report, which was based on company assessments, plus interviews with 21 of the company’s 220 employees and personal trainers.

“Celebration, reward and recognition continue to play an important part of life within the Gym Group. The Practitioner was impressed by the way this is managed, interviewing the GM of the Gym of the Year and talking with others about the shares given after the floatation.”

The Gym Group CEO and founder John Treharne hailed the Gold Award as “an accolade to be incredibly proud of” and said the operator would continue to invest in its staff.

“The report described us as a ‘great place to work’ and the assessor was very impressed by each of the Gym teams he met,” Treharne told Health Club Management.

“We were praised for our well balanced approach as the business continues to grow and evolve, the focus on customer service in our gyms and how we celebrate our successes.”