Busylizzy brings pilates and play for mothers and babies

The postnatal exercise classes making it easier for parents to get fit while their infants have fun

Busylizzy brings pilates and play for mothers and babies

Establishing a good fitness regime is rarely compatible with taking care of a small infant. Charging from creche to circuit training can cause enough of a headache; package in inflexible fees and booking arrangements and it seems likely to become a full-blown migraine. Fortunately, postnatal exercise club Busylizzy has created a flexible solution that’s suitable for parent and progeny alike.

Co-founders Julie Yates and Sarah Monk first saw the opportunity to create a different kind of fitness club when they were looking for baby classes. One of the things they noticed was that there was an inherent inflexibility about the way mum and baby groups were structured. “We always found it a bit hit and miss,” says Yates. “The traditional mum and baby groups seemed to be stuck in 1985.” Not only were many baby classes held in unsuitable locations like dusty and draughty village halls but parents would often be expected to cut a cheque for a term of classes, something that seemed rather anachronistic by 2009. “I don’t know about you but I can’t remember the last time I used my chequebook,” she adds.

And the future business partners found going to the gym wasn’t much better: any time they wanted to attend a fitness class they would also have to worry about childcare. “I had to try and juggle creche bookings,” Yates says. “My little ones didn’t always want to go to the creche so I’d have tears.”

It occurred to Yates and her co-founder that there had to be a way of combining fitness and baby classes in a way that was better for both parent and child. “There’s no reason when you’ve got a three-month-old baby that they can’t chill out on the matt or a duvet while mum does Pilates or yoga,” she says. “So we put all these things into the pot and Busylizzy was born.”

Before long, the nascent franchise was coming to fruition. “It took about three months working from my kitchen table at home and recruiting instructors,” says Yates. “Because of my background in leisure, I didn’t find it too daunting.” She began tracking down independent teachers from local magazines and classes, asking them to work under the Busylizzy brand and explaining their plan to bring a multitude of parent and child classes under one roof. “People soon came round to it and it was one of those ideas where people were like: ‘Why hasn’t this been done before?'” she adds.”

Considerable attention was also paid to Busylizzy’s branding. “As we’ve grown, it has proven to be a real clincher,” Yates says. The main focus with the branding was finding something that seemed fresh and stimulating but that wasn’t heavy on babyish iconography. “This is somewhere parents go, exercise, meet like-minded people and enjoy some classes with their children,” she says. “We wanted to get that across in our branding without it all being cutesy and full of teddy bears, toys and rattles.” After conducting focus groups and putting the contract out to tender, Busylizzy found its current designer, who has continued to guide its branding to this day.

But whilst its unique approach to design has certainly made it popular with its customers, Busylizzy’s broad range of classes is undoubtedly what has helped it stand out. “Each club has access to 21 classes and they can put any combination of those classes on their timetable,” Yates says. The classes are split into three different groups: the first focuses on ‘Mummy & Me’ post-natal fitness, offering things like Pilates, yoga and buggy fitness. The baby classes focus on calming and nurturing activities – encompassing things like reflexology, massage and painting – whilst sessions for toddlers provide more active classes, including Hip Hop Tots and Mini Explorers. “We span the first four years that parents have with their little ones, pretty much up until school,” says Yates.

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<p>Busylizzy has also revolutionised the way that parents pay for fitness and children’s classes. “Traditionally as a parent you would buy a term of Pilates and then buy a separate term of a baby-massage course,” Yates says. “We’ve pulled it all under one umbrella and parents pay a monthly membership, like you would at a gym.” Busylizzy’s online booking and smartphone app also allow much more flexibility in the booking process, enabling parents to book any combination of classes they want each week and easily cancel last minute should something come up. “We’re able to offer people the flexibility that they want,” she says. “It’s completely up to you as a parent how you manage it.”</p>
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<p>Thanks in part to the flexibility it offered, the franchise proved particularly popular with parents. Before long its co-founders found themselves inundated with enquiries from people who wanted to see a Busylizzy open in their area. “Former members that had moved to another part of the country were getting in touch saying, ‘I really wish there was a Busylizzy here’,” Yates says. The sheer level of demand made franchising the natural choice and gave Busylizzy an inbuilt stock of potential franchisees. “We’ve sold five franchises without ever actually having advertised,” she says. “They’ve all come from word of mouth and people asking if they can get involved.”</p>
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<p>This more organic recruitment has meant that Busylizzy’s franchisees are a comparatively diverse bunch. “All of our franchisees come from completely different backgrounds,” says Yates. From a seasoned Pilates practitioner to someone who formerly worked in central government, Busylizzy franchisees don’t necessarily fit a rigid template. The one thing they do have in common is that they are often professional women seeking a more flexible working arrangement after having children. However, Yates is keen to stress this doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk. “We would never say that a Busylizzy franchise is an easy option because it’s not; it’s hard work,” she says. “It’s a full-time job; it’s just a full-time job that can be done completely flexibly.”</p>
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<p>Fortunately, there’s plenty of training available to help new franchisees get on their feet. As well as providing five days of initial training and quarterly meetings to share best practice, Busylizzy has also found a high-tech way to help franchisees learn everything they need to know. “Instead of putting together a paper-based operations manual, we’ve actually created an online portal,” Yates says. Not only does it contain all of the franchise’s processes and the answers to any potential questions that franchisees might have but it also provides all of the franchise’s marketing materials, from print ads to social media graphics. “At the touch of a button, franchisees have access to everything they need,” Yates adds.”</p>
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<p>And franchisees aren’t the only ones sitting up and taking notice. In 2012, just a few months after it had launched, Busylizzy won the Toast of Surrey award, a Dragons’ Den-style pitching event for local businesses. “It was quite a full-on morning of being interrogated,” says Yates. “We were so pleased to win that award because we worked really hard for it.” Since then it has scooped plenty of other gongs, including a Mumpreneur Website award and a BBC Community Heroes award. “We’ve won a couple of awards every year from all sorts of different places,” she says. “Hopefully they show that we’re doing things a little bit differently.”</p>
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<p>Whilst much of Busylizzy’s focus thus far has been on Surrey, it is now looking to kickstart its national expansion. And since it gained accreditation with the bfa in December last year, the enquiries have rolled in thick and fast. “We’ve had more enquiries in the first two weeks of January than we had in the whole of 2015,” she says. “We’ve got people in Essex, Devon, the Midlands and Wales getting in touch.” Busylizzy’s sixth site is due to open in April this year; it is aiming to open a further six this year and be up to 30 by the close of 2017, as well as adding to its portfolio of signature classes to offer even more variety to its customers and franchisees. “Growing the franchises and developing the class offering,” Yates concludes. “That’s where the future will be.””<img decoding=

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Josh Russell
Josh Russell
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