Digitising Fitness: Transforming Member Experience for Europe's Largest Leisure Club Chain
David Lloyd needs to modernise its digital services in a competitive fitness market
David Lloyd Clubs is a chain of health clubs headquartered in the United Kingdom. It is Europe's largest health, fitness and leisure business by revenue and operates 130 clubs in nine countries. David Lloyd Clubs needed a technological partner to evolve its digital assets, improve member experience, and attract new customers. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for digital solutions that could reduce in-person interactions while maintaining high-quality service.
In 2020, David Lloyd first approached ELEKS with a specific challenge: developing a minimum viable product (MVP) for contactless food ordering at their facilities. This initial project set the stage for a lasting partnership resulting in multiple delivered projects.
Building a comprehensive digital ecosystem
The collaboration began with developing a food ordering and payment MVP, comprising a mobile app for guests, a tablet app for kitchen staff, and a web-based admin panel for menu management. This initial three-month project successfully addressed COVID-related interaction restrictions and laid the groundwork for more extensive digital transformation fulfilled by David Lloyd in partnership with ELEKS.
Following the MVP's success, David Lloyd decided to broaden its digital services, creating several products that tightly integrated with existing client infrastructure, including CRM, reporting, and Point of Sale (POS) systems.
ELEKS expanded is multi-faceted delivery to the following areas:
Discount management system
The team developed a sophisticated discount management system with software for creating and managing discounts, including flexible voucher flows and launching functionality.
Unified mobile application (OneApp)
ELEKS experts integrated David Lloyd’s core mobile application, OneApp, with the food ordering solution, creating a seamless user experience that enabled unified account login, visit planning, refreshment purchases, and club access via Apple Wallet.
Enhanced user engagement features
User engagement features were significantly enhanced through the project. The team integrated Apple Health, introduced new activity plans, added expert-led insights, and expanded the lifestyle trial program to 20 clubs.
Booking functionalities
The ELEKS team also enhanced booking functionalities within OneApp, allowing members to select personal training coaches and book junior coaching programs for tennis and swimming lessons.
Website redesign
A comprehensive website redesign rounded out the digital transformation. ELEKS revamped both front-end and back-end website components, modernising the visual style and user interface to create a more contemporary and intuitive digital experience.
Doctor ELEKS integration
ELEKS delivered a tailored implementation and integration of Doctor ELEKS—a highly customisable Medical Information System—with OneApp, enabling David Lloyd to streamline operations across newly acquired SPA clubs through multilingual support and an enhanced customer experience.
After the active development stage, ELEKS transitioned to a maintenance and continuous improvement phase. The team now provides comprehensive L1/L2/L3 support, including ongoing development, bug fixing, infrastructure maintenance, account administration, and website monitoring for David Lloyd. A key achievement was establishing a streamlined operations framework that efficiently manages requests from businesses, users, delivery teams, and third-party vendors, ensuring smooth and responsive digital ecosystem management.
A digital transformation driving member engagement
ELEKS helped David Lloyd enhance its services with a seamless and convenient digital edge, delivering a modern product suite. As of November 2024, the new guest app journey was deployed across 101 clubs.
The transformation resulted in:
- Serving over 2 million users with 1.8 million app-based orders processed as of November 2024
- OneApp boasting 65,000+ user ratings with a 4.7-star average
- Significantly improved member experience and engagement
The ongoing partnership continues with comprehensive L1/L2/L3 support, ensuring the digital ecosystem remains cutting-edge and responsive to member needs.
More projects for David Lloyd:
