Wallabies star Dane Haylett-Petty is the latest sporting heavyweight to sign up to a Fitstop franchise.
The Australian rugby union fullback has joined with high school friends, teammate and now business partner Justin Turner [both pictured above] to launch Perth’s second Fitstop, in Jolimont, before the end of the year.
Dane said “We have been best friends since high school and became teammates when we played for the Western Force. We are both passionate about healthy living and have often talked about owning our own gym.”
Dane met Fitstop CEO, Peter Hull, through Five Ventures Investment, a syndicate investment firm founded by the rugby international and other professional athletes.
“We like to invest in businesses and founders we believe in. From our first chat, I loved Pete’s passion and drive,” said Dane.
“Both Justin and I have been watching this space for a while, and when we checked out Fitstop Melville and learnt about Fitstop’s vision and values, along with their unique functional-based training format and investment in the tech, we knew this was the right move for us.
“The variety of training with a mix of cardio and strength elements is quite similar with what we would complete at rugby training, and I loved the concept of Social Saturdays, opening the gym free to the public to engage the community.”
Dane recently left the Melbourne Rebels to focus on his family in Perth and will head up the business operations while Justin, formerly a scrumhalf for Western Force, will be head trainer.
“I’ve been a PT for quite some time now and cannot wait to work with Dane and the Fitstop team. Being able to assist the community in their fitness journey is what I am most excited and passionate about,” Justin said.
There are five Fitstop locations set to open in Western Australia over the next few months with many more in the pipeline.
“We have over 50 locations in the works across Australia and we’re so excited to have two really aligned people join our network and grow the Fitstop name in Perth,” Peter Hull said.
“We have dominated the Queensland market and with expansion in three other states, we’re on track to double our footprint in the next financial year.”
In June this year Fitstop aligned with global fitness chain Lift Brands (parent company of brands such as Snap Fitness) in a multimillion-dollar strategic partnership to bolster international expansion.
As the brand grows, sustaining a community focus is important and it’s been key to sustaining workouts throughout lockdown via the brand’s app.
Fitstop’s custom-built app supports at-home workouts, whilst also providing the platform for members to physically track their progression and owners to manage the backend of their business to drive performance.