BUPA strengthens position in health & wellness sector

BUPA has announced a partnership deal with ADDleisure Plc, a market leader in health and leisure products and service innovation.

The deal with ADDleisure will help consolidate BUPA’s reach into positive health and wellness territory, currently one of the fastest growing areas of the industry.

ADDleisure, an AIM listed company, was formed in 2004 to focus on new opportunities in the leisure, health and wellness sectors - the rationale behind the company’s launch being to develop products and services targeting the millions of people who want to live healthy lives and are looking for new and innovative approaches to achieve their goals.

Its founders are some of the industry’s best-known entrepreneurs: David Turner, co-founder of LA Fitness; Allan Fisher, founder of Holmes Place; and David Cummin, founder of the software company Membertrack.

The deal gives BUPA a half share in two of ADDleisure’s product and service propositions – namely Fitbug and Movers and Shapers – together with a 29.9 percent share in ADDleisure Plc, which also includes Ez-Book.

The move will allow BUPA to further strengthen and develop its position in the corporate and consumer healthcare markets, where individuals are becoming more interested in proactive health management through improved nutrition, wellbeing and increased exercise.

The key features of the products are:

Fitbug - 'your online personal health & well-being coach' is effectively an activity motivator and nutritionist in your pocket, encouraging users to make small lifestyle changes for large health benefits. A further development, Fitbug Lab, measures and tracks key health indicators such as blood pressure, and provides an online health assessment. It can be sited in companies, retail outlets, gyms etc.

Movers & Shapers - a new and exciting concept in retail health and wellness which uniquely combines the use of Power Plate equipment and Fitbug technology to provide a personalized, fast track wellbeing and fitness solution on the high street.

Ez-Book – an online booking and resource management solution, designed to improve efficiency and maximise yield across businesses in the leisure and healthcare sectors.

Commenting on the deal with ADDleisure, managing director of BUPA Insurance Fergus Kee said: “We see this partnership as an important step in allowing us to increase our focus on positive health and wellness, whilst also retaining our market leading position in the care and treatment of ill health. The combination of ADDleisure’s management team and unique products and services together with our breadth of experience in the health and care industry will help us target new opportunities.

“The Government’s White Paper Choosing Health: making healthier choices easier puts the onus firmly on individuals to take more responsibility for their health and wellbeing. It also suggested that the workplace represented the ideal platform on which to promote its welfare reform agenda. The independent sector has a crucial role to play in this arena.”

ADDleisure’s David Turner added: “ADDleisure was formed to provide innovative health and wellbeing concepts to inspire individuals to take more responsibility for their health. Fitbug and Movers & Shapers, developed in-house by our team, are health and wellbeing concepts that have received highly positive feedback.

“This deal not only endorses our strategy and product base but also gives ADDleisure a powerful, long term strategic partner with whom we can deliver these, and other innovative products and services into the expanding wellbeing market. BUPA provides us with additional know-how and financial resource to enable us to fulfil our objective of becoming a leading investor in and provider of health and leisure products and services to both the UK market and overseas.”