What happens when two mums get fed up of rushing around taking their children to various classes and activities, sitting on dusty church hall floors and cramming in work in between? Well, for two entrepreneurial minds like Claire Harrison and Alina Cooper, ground-breaking things happen. GetSetGo! is a forward-thinking family wellness club in South West London, paving the way for a new kind of leisure centre.
We speak to Claire Harrison, Founder and CEO, and Alina Cooper, Co-Founder and Commercial Director about their brand-new wellness club dedicated to families in South West London. The clubs will offer a beautiful space that is designed to be safe, enriching and multifunctional. Whether it’s in the stunning pool, the dynamic studios, the interactive play area, the dedicated co-working space or the café there will be something for everyone. GetSetGo! Putney opens in January 2021.
Reimagining Family Wellness
Q. What first sparked the idea for GetSetGo! – was there a “ah ha” moment?
Claire: As both a parent but also a seasoned leisure professional, I saw a huge gap in the market when it came to children’s activities. Taking my own children to clubs and classes, I experienced too many times the distinct lack of suitable space to provide children’s activities across the capital. I started asking myself the questions every mum, dad and grandparent asks: Why am I paying so much money for my children’s activities, yet sat on dirty church, village halls and pub floors? Why am I having to juggle schedules, dashing from one place to another waiting for my children’s classes to finish? Trying to grab 20 minutes to do some work in between classes and never ever having any time for myself. The potential for a setting like GetSetGo! became glaringly obvious and so I decided to do something about it!
My first concept designs were 9 years ago but the business kicked off properly 2 1/2 years ago. I then approached Alina, a friend, mum and experienced leisure entrepreneur to come on board and we have been working hard ever since getting the business to this point.
Q. What are the biggest challenges you have faced setting up the GetSetGo! wellness centres?
Claire: Finding property and raising the capital investment have been the biggest challenges. Landlords have been nervous to commit to a new company and the spaces that were available were either in the wrong location or not big enough. Building a space like this in key residential areas means finding a huge footprint space that is accessible to local families and that’s not easy. We are lucky to have found great investors who totally believe in us and then found Putney as our first site and have 6 more planned in key London locations in the coming years!
Q. With more families opting to live in cities than ever before, when it comes to family wellness- as well as GetSetGo! activity spaces, what else would you like to see more of?
Alina: We want to continue to create beautiful yet affordable activity spaces for the whole family that focus on both physical and mental wellbeing. A space where families can book and pay for the clubs and classes they use with no monthly membership fees.
“Our goal is to become a key part of the community; bringing friends, family and parents together.”
Alina Cooper, Co-Founder GetSetGo!
Sustainability As Standard
Q. What efforts have you made to ensure your centres are environmentally friendly?Alina:
All our clubs will be totally plastic free. We are also looking at sustainable partnerships for the products we use within the clubs and we are working hard with our construction and design teams to ensure that our build provides opportunities for the club to run with sustainable and environmentally conscious measures in place. We have also installed UV systems in the swimming pools to create a more environmentally friendly environment yet ensuring the highest level of disinfection.
“All our clubs will be totally plastic free.”
Alina Cooper, Co-Founder GetSetGo!
Q. Where do you source your ingredients from for the café and how did you devise the menu?
Alina: We had clear ideas what we wanted for our menu offering. A simple, fresh, healthy menu cooked on site by our chefs. Simple easy suppers for hungry tums and some great post workout grab and go options. We will be offering breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner in an easy cafe style setting. We are currently talking to some local produce suppliers and bakers and of course we will have a glass of chilled wine for mums and dads too!
Q. Do you have any more exciting plans in the pipeline? Will you remain London-centric?
Claire: We have so many plans! For now, we are focusing on London but we have plans for a wider UK rollout thereafter. Clubs will vary in size but all will have swimming pools, studios, cafe and co working. Our bigger clubs will also offer a creche/ co-work hybrid setting for parents who need ad hoc childcare and some additional play and learning areas to explore. We also have an interactive online platform for video content launching this summer and we have an exiting events calendar planned for every club too. Watch this space!
At the moment, whilst the clubs are waiting to open, Claire and Alina are running Studio Hero’s on Tour, giving families a sneak preview of what is to come when they open their doors.
Stay fabulous
