Colleagues at Great Annual Savings Group (GAS) will be the fittest around once the Group’s new 80,000 square foot campus headquarters is completed.
GAS’ North East-based colleagues will be moving into state-of-the-art new premises at Spectrum 7 later this year and the “fit–out” has already begun.
Last week we announced the building’s new subsidised catering facility, GASTRO. This week is equally exciting as we reveal the Great Annual Savings Functional Intense Training (GASfit) Centre.
Our new 7,500 square foot gymnasium and studios will give colleagues a unique space to work on their physical wellbeing, designed around the latest science behind the global functional fitness movement. It will be free for colleagues to use and open for workouts from before the start of the working day until the evening.
The footprint of GASfit will encompass the Group’s entire workforce, with ways for colleagues from around the UK to access digital classes, expertise and resources from the headquarters facility and its experts.
The digital element of the GASfit Centre will be as in-depth as the physical element, to allow those from outside of the North East to benefit from its expertise as much as those based at the headquarters.
The gym’s make-up has been designed in consultation with functional experts at the peak of the UK fitness and wellbeing scene and focuses on the most modern schools of thought to help colleagues improve their wellbeing.
Gyms have been highlighted as one of the most likely places to spread Covid-19, which has been a key factor in the choices involved. The rules and processes in the gym will fit with the Group’s Covid-compliance plan around social distancing and cleanliness.
Craig Shields, Head of Quality and Risk at GAS, has been a key figure in both the headquarters project and the Group’s Covid-compliance.
He said: “I’m really excited about GASfit after the conversations we’ve been having. This is not going to be your average, token gesture company gym with a cramped room full of treadmills and some dumbbells.
“This is not going to be your average, token gesture company gym with a cramped room full of treadmills and some dumbbells.”
“We have worked with experts in the latest schools of thought and taken inspiration from the wildly successful Crossfit story. There will be treadmills and standard equipment, but we will ensure we have space to carry out activities that will allow our colleagues to focus on the areas which will make the most rapid and thorough improvements in their wellbeing, IE functional fitness.
“We will have experts on-site in the gym who can help colleagues devise a training and nutritional plan, which will be delivered between GASfit and GASTRO for a holistic physical wellbeing offer.
“The rise of digital-based exercise companies such as Peloton and personalities like Joe Wicks coming to the fore during UK lockdown show that we can make sure our staff all over the country can feel the benefit of the GASfit Centre. We are now planning for how we can deliver physical wellbeing benefits to everyone at GAS.
“We will be installing studios for group and one-to-one classes and a schedule of activities that can be booked in digitally through a solution that will help colleagues manage a programme. The studios are facing out over the stunning Seaham coastline with panoramic views to take advantage of sunrises and sunsets, which can be used as part of yoga classes.
“There will be comfortable changing facilities with showers and regular updates to the available activities and classes to keep up with the latest fitness trends.
“It’s truly going to be something special.”
GAS’ seven-figure investment in the new building comes amid plans for another significant recruitment drive to continue the Group’s rapid growth journey.
Vacancies will be released for applications over the next two months. You can sign up to alerts to hear about the opportunities to join the GAS family first, here.