Before he became a full-time gym owner, Wayne Lakin was a Judo athlete. He’s a former British and Commonwealth champion, Olympic reserve 1996. With passion for fitness alongside his training, he studied to become a leisure manager and a personal trainer.
Wayne Lakin kicked off his gym journey by working part time in fitness clubs to help fund his judo career. Today he has 20+ years of experience in the fitness industry, having worked for SLM, Places For People, Moat House Hotels, Independent Gyms, British Judo, Leicester Tigers & Badminton England.
Tell us more about how you got started with United Strength & Conditioning?
I’m running United Strength and Conditioning in Hinckley, Leics. When I bought it about 3 1/2 years ago, it was a small gym. It is now a two-floor facility, hosting general public and Olympic athletes for normal gym training, S&C, Crossfit and personal training.
We sponsor 3 athletes from the gym, Chelsie Giles 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist (who we also programme their S&C), Christopher Skelley 2020 Paralympic Champion (who we programme Conditioning Sessions for) and Emma Reid Team GB.
What problems did you have before joining Membr that made you switch providers?
We started with Club Manager as that was the software used upon buying the facility. We then switched to Membr as this is what I had used at another facility and I liked this service.
Due to financial constraints, we actually left Membr during COVID and briefly used ClubRight.
As we are now coming out of the pandemic and the series of lockdowns, we are back with Membr. We realised we had misvalued the functionality of referring a friend and promo codes to allow members a better joining experience.
How has Membr helped your fitness club, your team and business operations?
I don’t think this is just one thing. From the onboarding process, through the referral system and then generally using the system, it’s a smooth process.
Membr allows me to run more membership joining offers and promote the ‘Refer a friend’ option.
In return, gym members feel valued if they receive a free month for referring a new member and not having to wait for the club to apply this change. It’s a great system.
What are the Membr features that your business can’t live without?
Refer a friend. Also, class bookings!
Why do you Trust Membr?
The team is what you trust – if they deliver on what they say they will deliver in the timeframe, that is what you trust. Trust has been built – so far so good!
