You work for an organisation called ABC Ltd

As part of a new employee benefits scheme, the Board of Directors at ABC Ltd have decided to convert a disused office area to the rear of the building into a gym.

They have appointed you Project Manager and have tasked the organisation and management of the building refurbishment, the recruitment of appropriately trained staff and the launch and opening of the gym to you as part of the project.

The gym facility will be made available to all permanent staff and those who wish to use it will have to join with a monthly membership. As part of the benefits scheme, this will be heavily subsidised by the company.

To make the project financially viable and to reduce the impact of subsidisation on the business, the directors would like to open up membership to people from the general public at a ‘normal rate’.

Based on research, proposed rates/charges for the general public are recommended to be in the region of £/€20 per month plus additional fees for organised classes. Staff members will also be expected to pay these class fees.

The actual charges are yet to be finalised and the only criteria given by the directors is that the rate charged to ABC Ltd staff must be lower than that charged to the public.

The gym will be open from 6.00am to 9.00pm to enable staff to use the facility before and after work and also to allow the public access at these times too.

ABC Ltd are currently in discussions with a number of local contractors for the building work and have asked for recommendations for role recruitment from you as soon as possible.

The initial build work has been estimated at £/€150K, with a further £/€50K set aside for internal fittings and décor. Quotes received so far have ranged from 20 – 28 weeks for completion of the work (exterior and interior).

In addition, £/€10k has been allocated for recruitment costs and £/€5k for advertising.

In order to get maximum return on investment from the facility, the conversion needs to be completed within the next 6-8 months.

Once built, the gym will cost an estimated £/€400 per day in staffing and utility costs (not including the cost of laundry, equipment repairs and other sundries). Classes will be able to accommodate a maximum of 20 people at one time.

You are concerned about the tight timescales but are convinced that with your experience that you will be able to ‘pull it off’. As gym prices in the locality are somewhat high and demand from staff is expected to be high too, staff are aware that they need to buy their membership well in advance, therefore it is essential that any concerns over the gym’s readiness are not brought to the attention of ABC staff or the public as it is likely that people will be reluctant to buy a membership, leaving the viability of ABC Ltd’s gym Project in doubt.

ABC Ltd’s Owner is quoted as saying:

“The gym will offer a fantastic health and wellbeing benefit to all our staff, as well as helping us financially.

In addition, the new gym will offer a sound business investment to ABC Ltd and I thoroughly expect a return on investment within 2 years of opening, not to mention the upgrade it will offer to our premises; transforming a disused part of the site into a profitable business unit and attractive health setting.”