The people behind fitness company Move Repeat, which owns Yoga Movement and Strong Pilates Singapore, share how people’s willingness to pay for fitness has changed from wanting bang for their buck to seeking relaxation and quiet time
Globally, a 2021 report by Statista projected that the health and fitness market would grow annually by 7.7 percent between 2020 and 2024, with 2024 expected to see $96.6 billion in revenue.
This trend is reflected in Singapore, where the number of people using or subscribing to a gym membership is rising. In May 2022, the statutory board Sport Singapore highlighted to The Straits Times, the nation’s daily newspaper, that there had been a 6 percent increase in the number of people using its ActiveSG gyms compared to 2019. There was also a 16 percent increase in people taking part in activities, such as Zumba and yoga, at its ActiveSG Sport Centres islandwide.
Statista also recorded a similar uptick in gym attendance between 2019 and 2023, save for the dip in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, gyms in Singapore saw more than 4 million attendances, a 38 percent increase from 2019’s 2.9 million.
Read more: Balancing act: Alicia Pan has her eyes on pilates after building a yoga studio empire in Singapore
Since opening its doors in 2012, Singapore-started yoga studio, Yoga Movement, has redefined the practice by combining its well-being elements with fitness. It also launched an academy to train new yoga teachers.
Ten studios and a growing franchise partnership with Australia’s Strong Pilates later, Yoga Movement co-founders, Alicia Pan and Peter Thew, joined forces with Park Hotel Group founder, Allen Law, in 2023 to start a new parent company, Move Repeat. Their goal is to create more workout experiences across Asia.
The trio share more insights on the new company, how their fitness philosophies influence their leadership styles, and the trends and innovations shaping the Asian market.
What does fitness mean to you?
Alicia Pan (AP): For me, fitness is a way of life, something that is integrated into my daily routine. It is all-encompassing and doesn’t only mean pushing myself to do a heavy workout every day, but also adopting a healthy way of life, both physically and mentally. Eating and living well means having both “on days” and “off days”. If there is an appropriate time to let my body rest or give in to cravings, that should be perfectly fine and acceptable.
How does your fitness philosophy influence the way you run your businesses?
AP: Our businesses are run based on one simple word: accessibility. This is also an important word for my fitness philosophy because the way I keep fit needs to be accessible. Whether it’s a goal that I know is attainable or a place that is convenient and that I feel welcome in, efficiency is key. A lot of people are short on time due to reasons such as work commitments or family, so we use this awareness to build our client experience.
How has the fitness industry in Singapore evolved in the years since Yoga Movement started?
Peter Thew (PT): As a small city-state, Singapore has seen no shortage of new modalities and brands jumping into the market. The market is saturated with so many choices that many people have shifted from committing to a single type of workout to branching out into a wider variety of activities to suit their needs.
This is proven by the success of third-party aggregators such as ClassPass, where people can choose from a wide variety of activities. More companies are also choosing to invest in staff well-being by offering credits on such platforms to their team members, so they are not limited to the benefits of one activity.
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