Case Study — Fitness
Case Study: Turning Around a 24/7 Gym at Randwick Junction
A franchisee running a 24-hour gym near Randwick Junction, NSW 2031, came to us in autumn 2026 with a problem he could smell before he could measure it. The changerooms had developed the odour every gym owner dreads, members were saying so — in the feedback box and, worse, in public reviews — and his cancellation survey had started returning the word "dirty". The venue is anonymised at the operator's request; the scope, timeline and results below are as delivered.
Diagnosis: the right work at the wrong time
The incumbent cleaner was not lazy — he was scheduled at 6pm, the busiest ninety minutes of the day for a gym full of post-work lifters. The audit told a simple story:
- Equipment in use was skipped and rarely revisited, so half the fleet missed disinfection on any given night
- Rubber flooring was damp-mopped only; years of sweat had soaked in with no machine scrub on record
- Showers were wiped but drains never treated — the actual odour source
- No visit logs, so the franchisor audit relied on the manager walking the floor at opening
The rebuild
- Service window moved to 11.30pm–3.30am, the venue's genuine quiet hours, cleaning zone by zone so 24/7 access was never interrupted
- Every contact surface — grips, consoles, benches, bars — disinfected nightly with TGA-approved hospital-grade product
- Enzyme-based floor treatment nightly, plus a monthly machine scrub of all rubber flooring, fixed-quoted as a scheduled extra
- Changeroom protocol rebuilt: showers descaled, drains enzyme-dosed weekly, grout scrubbed monthly, air handling vents dusted
- Signed logs each visit and a monthly photo audit to the franchisee and franchisor — police-checked crew, $20M public liability, certificates lodged with head office
The result
Odour complaints hit zero in week five and stayed there. The following quarter brought a string of reviews mentioning cleanliness unprompted — the cheapest marketing the venue ever ran — and the franchisee extended the program to his second site. Total cleaning spend rose about 10 percent; churn attributed to cleanliness in the cancellation survey went from a recurring line item to nil. The contract runs month-to-month, like every agreement we write.
Questions about this case study
What kind of gym was this?
A 24/7 access franchise gym of about 850 square metres near Randwick Junction — cardio floor, free weights, functional zone, two changerooms with showers, and a small staffed reception open business hours.
What was going wrong before?
The previous cleaner worked a 6pm slot when the gym was at peak load, so equipment was skipped, the rubber flooring was mopped but never machine-scrubbed, and the changerooms had a persistent odour members mentioned in reviews and cancellation surveys.
What changed under the new program?
Service moved to the 11.30pm to 3.30am window, zone-by-zone so 24/7 access continued. Nightly equipment disinfection with TGA-approved hospital-grade product, enzyme treatment on floors, deep changeroom protocol with drain treatment, and a monthly machine scrub of all rubber surfaces.
How was it priced?
Within our standard Randwick gym band of $30 to $45 per hour as a fixed monthly figure, plus a fixed-quoted monthly floor scrub. Total spend rose about 10 percent on the old contract while service hours roughly doubled in usable value.
What were the measurable results?
Odour complaints in the member feedback system dropped to zero within five weeks. Over the following quarter the venue picked up multiple reviews specifically praising cleanliness, and the franchisee extended the program to a second site.
Running a gym with the same symptoms?
The full service spec is on our gym cleaning Randwick page, with pricing context in the cost guide and rates page. For a different industry turnaround, read the Belmore Road medical suite case study or browse the case studies index. Multi-suburb operators: we cover Kingsford and Maroubra too.
Members noticing the wrong things? Fix it before the reviews do.
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