Interview: How Lakers Gym Uses PT Tracker to Attract New Members

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Lakers Gym is a 6,000 sq ft independent gym in Warrington, Cheshire. It’s got a free weights area, a functional fitness zone, a cardio floor, and a small studio for classes. Owner Tom Ashworth opened it in 2019 — right before the world shut down. We caught up with him to talk about how PT Tracker has changed the way he fills his gym.

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Tell us about Lakers Gym.

We’re an independent gym in Warrington that’s been going since 2019. Worst timing in history to open a gym, but we survived COVID and came out the other side stronger. We’ve got about 450 members now, a mix of serious lifters, casual gym-goers, and a growing CrossFit-style community.

The name comes from my son’s football team — they’re called the Lakers. He was about eight when I opened and he thought it was the coolest thing that the gym had the same name as his team. I wasn’t going to argue with that logic.

We’re not a budget gym. We don’t have thousands of members paying six quid a month. We’re more of a community gym where people know each other’s names. That’s what I wanted to build and that’s what we’ve got.

Why did you list on PT Tracker?

Honestly, I was sceptical at first. We’d tried a few digital platforms and they were all basically lead generation tools that charged us a fortune for tyre-kickers who’d never actually show up. A mate who owns a gym in Leeds mentioned PT Tracker was doing something different — letting users find gyms, book day passes, and see what facilities you’ve got, all within an app that people are already using to track their workouts.

The logic made sense to me. If someone’s in Warrington for work and they’re already tracking their workout on PT Tracker, they can search for a nearby gym, see we’ve got the equipment they need, and book a day pass without leaving the app. They’re a warm lead — they’re already planning to train, they just need somewhere to do it.

I signed up and set up our profile in about twenty minutes. Photos of the gym, list of equipment, opening hours, day pass price, class timetable. Dead easy.

How has it affected footfall?

In the first three months we had about 60 day pass bookings through the app. That’s 60 people who would never have found us otherwise. Most of them are people travelling for work, visiting family in the area, or just trying us out before committing to a membership.

Of those 60, nine converted to full members. Nine people paying monthly who walked through the door because of the app. When you work out the lifetime value of a gym member, that’s significant revenue from something that took me twenty minutes to set up.

We also get visibility from the “nearby gyms” feature. When PT Tracker users are in our area, we show up in their search results. That’s free advertising to exactly the right audience — people who already care about fitness and are actively looking for somewhere to train.

What features do gym owners use most?

The facility listing is the bread and butter. Making sure your equipment list is accurate and your photos look good. People want to know if you’ve got a squat rack free, if you’ve got bumper plates, if there’s a dedicated stretching area. The more detail you put in, the more bookings you get.

The class timetable integration is great too. We run a few group classes — a morning circuit class, a lunchtime HIIT session, a Saturday morning strongman session — and they all show up in the app. People can see what’s on and when before they even walk in. We’ve had new members join specifically because they saw a class they wanted to try.

The reviews are powerful as well. We’ve got a 4.8 rating from day pass users, and that social proof makes a massive difference. When someone’s choosing between three gyms in the area, the reviews tip the balance.

What would you say to other gym owners considering it?

Just do it. It takes twenty minutes to set up, it costs nothing until someone actually books, and the users who come through are quality. They’re not the type to sign up in January and vanish in February — they’re people who are already training consistently and using an app to track their progress.

The independent gym market is tough. We’re competing against chains with massive marketing budgets. PT Tracker levels the playing field because it puts us in front of the right people at the right time. Someone searching for “gym near me” on PT Tracker is a much better lead than someone who saw a Facebook ad.

If you’re an independent gym owner and you’re not on PT Tracker, you’re leaving money on the table. Simple as that.

What’s your favourite PT Tracker feature?

From a member perspective, the workout tracking. I use it myself for my own training and it’s class. But from a business perspective, it’s the day pass booking. It’s brought genuine new revenue into the gym with basically no effort on my part. The bookings come through, the person shows up, they pay, they train, and sometimes they join. It’s the easiest marketing channel I’ve ever had.

My staff love it too. When someone walks in and says “I’ve booked a day pass through PT Tracker,” we know they’re serious about training. There’s no awkward sales pitch needed — they’ve already seen the gym, they know the price, they’ve made the decision. It’s a much better experience for everyone.

Any plans for Lakers Gym this year?

We’re expanding the functional fitness zone — adding more rigs and assault bikes. I’m also looking at hosting PT Tracker community events, maybe a monthly competition or charity workout. The social features in the app make it easy to organise and promote that stuff to local users.

Long term, I want Lakers to be the best independent gym in the North West. Not the biggest, not the cheapest — the best. PT Tracker helps us compete with the big chains on visibility, and our community and atmosphere does the rest.