1. W E L L N E S S
http://www.business-arena.ro
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ENGLISHSECTION
What are the main achievements World
Class has seen in Romania since you
took your position as CEO and Mana-
ging Partner? What aspects of business
have not yielded the expected results?
During my time as CEO and Managing Partner
we have grown World Class from eight clubs to
28 clubs and from 12,000 members to 45,000
members. However, more importantly we have
implemented, during this time, a whole new
corporate culture where everyone in the company
is working towards a common vision to “Radically
Improve the Lifestyle of People in Romania”. This
shared vision has created a very strong and
unstoppable force of talented and passionate
World Class employees that is inspiring and
motivating people to become healthier every day.
Today we have 28 clubs, and at the end of the
year there will be at least 31. Our goal for 2016
was to have 25 clubs, so we are ahead of target
both in terms of club numbers and in terms of
revenue and EBITDA for the year. So I can’t really
pinpoint any areas where we haven’t yielded the
expected results. But we are always on the
lookout for continuous improvements so there is
plenty more work to be done.
How would you describe the general
development prospects of the
Romanian wellness industry?
Romania still has a long way to go in order to
reach the level of many other countries in Europe,
especially when it comes to the penetration rate
(percentage of the population that is member of a
sport or fitness club). But despite the fact that
Romania is lagging behind many other European
countries, the interest is growing very fast. We
have seen an explosion in demand and interest
for our services, and every new concept we are
introducing is very well received. People are
starting to take care of themselves much more
than in the past, and they are also starting to see
fitness not only as a way of getting slim or
building muscles, but also as an everyday
necessity to feel well and to live an active and
healthy life. Fitness is today a big part of many
people’s lifestyle and social life.
What is your view regarding the
level of competition in your sector?
As I have mentioned, the fitness penetration
rate in Romania is significantly lower than in many
other European countries. In order for Romania to
have a healthy population, there is a need for a
bigger industry. We cannot create this by
ourselves and Romania would need a more
professional wellness industry in order to speed
up the development and increase penetration
rate. Unfortunately there is a lack of professional
players.
What are the most sought-after
services and products?
One of the most popular services right now is
Body and Mind classes such as Yoga and Pilates.
We see a very big and growing interest for this
type of classes. Another very popular product that
has been growing rapidly is Personal Training.
People have really started to see the benefit of
training with a Personal Trainer. It leads both to
increased efficiency and better results as well as
motivation and inspiration. Personal Training is
now a very common and regular appointment in
people’s calendar.
FITNESS BUSINESS SHAPES
UP FOR FURTHER EXPANSION
While still a low percentage of the population holds membership of a sports
club, the wellness industry in Romania has major growth potential. In an
interview with Business Arena, Mikael Fredholm, CEO and Managing Partner,
World Class Romania, points out that the business is going in the right
direction and interest for fitness services has been growing fast. He also
emphasizes the importance of government policies aimed at encouraging
corporate wellness programs for employees.

2. What are the aspects that give your
company an edge against competition?
Two things: Motivation and Inspiration.
Everything we do is surrounded by and based
around these two words. Most fitness companies
around the world scream out to the market: “Hey,
come to me because we will give you results!”.
Results are of course important for people when
they join a fitness facility, but how various fitness
companies help their members to get results varies
greatly. For us it’s all about motivation and
inspiration, because, at the end of the day, if our
members receive this, they will get results. But
building motivation and inspiration, as we all know,
is a science in itself and there have been plenty of
books written and researches done on this
subject. Again, these two words surround
everything we do. From how we design our clubs,
products and services to how all of our staff
interacts with our members and how we help our
members with tools such as our blog and
magazine.
How would you characterize
Romania’s business environment?
I like it. But it has its complexity, especially the
bureaucracy and the fact that sometimes it feels
like entrepreneurships is not encouraged. But this
is offset by the big passion and enthusiastic
approach shown by the people that make up the
Romanian business environment. It’s a very open
and “everything-is-possible” climate which I really
like and appreciate.
What are the main economic deve-
lopments that could lead to a boost in
revenues in the wellness industry?
All countries in the world that have a high
penetration rate, resulting in a very healthy and
active population, have one thing in common: their
governments have realized that an active and
healthy population not only increases the
productivity in the country, but it also reduces
health-related societal costs. In order to encourage
the population to choose a more healthy lifestyle
and become more active, governments use
legislative tools such as lowering VAT for sport
related services, and encouraging companies to
get involved in corporate health programs. In
Romania, if a company wants to implement a
corporate wellness program and support their
employees to have a healthier lifestyle, they will get
taxed for this because the government sees this as
a benefit in kind and not as a benefit to the
society. This is something that needs to be
changed because companies are a major driving
force and have a big responsibility to ensure that
their employees are healthy and active. More and
more employees are inactive and spend too much
time sitting down in front of a computer and when
you add stress you have a dangerous combination.
What are your main professional
objectives this year and what are your
company’s main targets in 2016?
My professional objective for this year is to help
more companies become healthier by working with
them on implementing successful corporate
wellness programs for their employees. I want to
encourage more people in Romania to become
more active and to inspire and motivate all my staff
to continue our journey in our mission to “Radically
Transform the Lifestyle of People in Romania”.
Our company’s main target this year is to
successfully integrate our latest acquisition of Club
Moving’s nine clubs into World Class, and to open
our three new clubs: Militari and Park Lake, in
Bucharest, and City Mall, in Constan]a. And with
this we are ready to exceed 50,000 members in
Romania.
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