Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa
Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa
Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa
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Cannons Gets a New Shot with Nuffield<br />
Hospital group acquires club chain for $391 million<br />
Aleading private healthcare group in the U.K. has<br />
purchased the Cannons chain of 52 health and<br />
fitness facilities in a deal believed to be worth<br />
about $391 million.<br />
Nuffield Hospitals acquired Health Club <strong>In</strong>vestment Group<br />
Limited, the parent company of Cannons Health & Fitness,<br />
from PPM Capital, a private-equity company, in November.<br />
“Nuffield has been steadily repositioning from being purely<br />
a hospitals operator to being a provider of a broad range of<br />
health services and healthcare,” David Mobbs, the group<br />
chief executive of Nuffield Hospitals, says of the move.<br />
Nuffield is believed to be the first U.K. company to offer businesses<br />
a single point of access to health, wellbeing, and fitness<br />
services, the result of its having launched its Nuffield Proactive<br />
Health service in 2005. On-site health assessment, physiotherapy,<br />
and general practice services proved popular with the corporate<br />
community and, through Cannons, there’s now an opportunity<br />
to introduce these services to a larger audience.<br />
“Cannons and Nuffield Proactive Health can complement<br />
each other’s strengths, and develop together,” observes Chris<br />
><br />
Short Takes | They Don’t Come Any Better than Jessica Biel<br />
For years now, Jessica Biel has<br />
been garnering accolades as a<br />
promising young actress and<br />
as “America’s favorite<br />
fitness girl,” and, on<br />
both counts, CBI is<br />
inclined to agree.<br />
Biel first came to the<br />
public’s attention in<br />
7th Heaven, a TV<br />
series, in 1996,<br />
engaged it fully in the<br />
2004 film Blade: Trinity<br />
as a vampire slayer,<br />
and has since held<br />
onto it with impressive<br />
appearances<br />
in such vehicles<br />
as Elizabethtown,<br />
Stealth, The Illusionist,<br />
and last year’s<br />
comedy, I Now<br />
Pronounce You<br />
Chuck and Larry.<br />
<strong>In</strong> virtually<br />
every one of them,<br />
she’s either hinted<br />
at, or unabashedly Jessica Biel<br />
Jessop, the chief executive of Nuffield Proactive Health. “We<br />
have expertise in integrating health services with fitness and<br />
exercise, whereas Cannons has built a strong reputation for<br />
operating excellent clubs that are great places to get in shape<br />
and stay healthy.”<br />
“We’re very excited by Nuffield’s vision of a broader-based<br />
health and fitness proposition,” says Cannons Chief Executive<br />
Arnu Misra. “Our colleagues and members can look forward to<br />
a bright, secure, and exciting future under the Nuffield umbrella.”<br />
Commenting on the acquisition, Andree Deane, chief<br />
executive of the Fitness <strong>In</strong>dustry Association (FIA), enthuses,<br />
“We think it’s fantastic news. This is a first for the medical<br />
profession to recognize the fitness industry as a contender for<br />
quality fitness provision… There’s no stronger message than<br />
a takeover of a fitness company.”<br />
Cannons, founded in 1980 by industry veteran Harm Tegelaars,<br />
was purchased by the Royal Bank of Scotland and PPM in 2001 for<br />
approximately $705 million. There are an additional 15 Courtneys<br />
sites in public leisure centers managed by Cannons Leisure Management.<br />
<strong>In</strong> all, the group serves some 165,000 members. —|<br />
demonstrated, her superb<br />
fitness and extraordinary athleticism.<br />
<strong>In</strong> Blade: Trinity,<br />
she flexed her taught<br />
biceps as she battled evil,<br />
and, in I Now Pronounce<br />
You Chuck and Larry,<br />
she showcased her svelte<br />
curves in lingerie.<br />
Her physique and<br />
physical vitality are both<br />
the result of hard work—<br />
lots of hard work. Guided<br />
by personal trainer Jason<br />
Walsh, the 5'7" Biel<br />
works out for one hour,<br />
six days a week, with<br />
sessions running the<br />
full gamut, from<br />
jogging and<br />
plyometrics, to<br />
weight training and<br />
yoga. Even during<br />
her free time,<br />
she remains active,<br />
playing volleyball on the<br />
beach, surfing, and hiking<br />
with her dogs.<br />
| News & Know How | News<br />
Recently, Walsh discussed some<br />
of the particulars of Biel’s regimen<br />
with People magazine. Stretch: one<br />
of her favorite exercises, he said, is<br />
the walking lunge. “This stretches the<br />
larger leg and glute muscles.” Cardio:<br />
a .25-mile jog, followed by 200-, 150-,<br />
and 100-meter sprints. “It’s the cardio<br />
than leans her out.” Core: “Hanging<br />
leg raises don’t build a six-pack, but<br />
they flatten. Jessica hates them,<br />
but she powers through!”<br />
Biel, who turns 26 on the 3rd of this<br />
month, has an equally healthy mental<br />
attitude. She refuses to obsess over<br />
her weight, ignores Hollywood’s<br />
fascination with the super-skinny,<br />
and, in fact, doesn’t even own a scale.<br />
<strong>In</strong>stead, she focuses on her strength<br />
and overall health. Her New Year’s<br />
resolution, according to People: “Stop<br />
eating cheese and start eating kale,”<br />
she told the magazine. “I eat way too<br />
much cheese. Kale is good for you and<br />
delicious with a little garlic.”<br />
When it comes to CBI’s fitness role<br />
models of the month—they don’t<br />
come any better than Jessica Biel. —|<br />
www.ihrsa.org | MARCH 2008 | Club Business <strong>In</strong>ternational 27<br />
Graham Whitby/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar/Newscom