Thursday, 20 August 2009

A walk around Knightsbridge


As summer hits its peak and people leave in droves for their holiday’s, business often slows down to a crawl. The many museums and historic sites are packed with tourists, but the residential streets and local shops seem eerily quiet.

On Monday, August 17th Ola Olayera, The Rembrandt’s Sales Manager, and I took a pro-active walk around the neighborhood to investigate the current situation regarding local businesses and their awareness of Aquilla, our Health and Fitness Club.

The summer slow down can often be a fantastic opportunity for a bit of “housekeeping” which can easily slip through the cracks when its “business as usual”. As we are all aware, the recession has blanketed the globe with its effects rippling through the private and public sectors. People and businesses alike, are all looking for ways to cut costs in order to ride out this economic storm. It has never been more important for creativity in drumming up business.

From our walk around, the consensus was split as to those who were aware or unaware of Aquilla’s presence in the Knightsbridge area. As expected, many could not justify the cost of a membership on their own, as it seems the recession has hit people hard when it comes to luxurious needs being fulfilled. However, there were those who were keen to seek out Aquilla and give us a chance, especially those who worked for companies where the owners of their company have a system in place to offer the employee, the gym membership as a benefit of employment.

All in all it was a very positive experience to put faces to the local businesses we walk past everyday on our way to work. Networking doesn’t take a lot money just a good pair of walking shoes, a smile and positive “can do” attitude. As this was the first venture out, I can report it will not be the last.

Submitted by Violet Ward, for Aquilla Health and Fitness Club

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