RESEARCH
JAMIE BUCK • HEAD OF RESEARCH, LEISURE DB
From Static Data to Real-Time Intelligence
I ’ve been researching the UK tness market for 30 years, and the biggest change I’ve seen is not simply the growth of the sector itself, it’s the transformation in how information exists, moves and can now be understood. When I joined Leisure DB in 1996, almost everything was still in print. Research meant manually working through physical directories, Yellow Pages listings,
outdated or poorly researched information expanded through generic AI-generated content. Websites and social media accounts are frequently abandoned.
User reviews can be manipulated or misleading. AI tools can surface huge amounts of information
incredibly quickly, but without industry knowledge and human oversight they can also amplify inaccuracies at scale. That shift is fundamentally
brochures and phone calls to facilities. At the time, I was running Sportsline, a freephone service helping Londoners nd sports activities across the capital. Behind the scenes sat a searchable database of venues and activities, and after each call we would physically post information out to customers, printing activity lists, stuf ng envelopes and licking stamps with that unmistakable gummy taste that anyone from that era probably still remembers. That was what market intelligence looked like then. I often think about the contrast between the old leather-bound leisure directories we used to produce and the reality of research today. Back then, information arrived slowly, printed onto paper you could physically hold and archive. Today, the market never really stops talking. Websites update overnight, booking systems change constantly and social feeds move by the minute. Researchers now work across multiple screens with endless tabs open, dashboards ring noti cations all day and the strange modern experience of occasionally hearing phantom noti cation sounds that were never actually there. The market has always changed daily, we just didn’t have the ability to track it at that level before. In many ways, the internet solved the problem of information scarcity. But it also created a new problem: information quality. Online directories are everywhere, often lled with
changing the role of research. Historically, annual audits and static reports were enough. Increasingly, they are simply snapshots within a continuously moving environment. “AI can identify patterns and detect change, but context, interpretation and validation still matter enormously.” The future of market intelligence is not periodic reporting, it’s continuous intelligence. At Leisure DB, this is driving a major evolution in how we research the sector. We are combining operator validated data, analyst expertise and AI-supported intelligence gathering to create a continuously updated view of the market. Importantly, I don’t believe AI replaces researchers. If anything, it increases the importance of experienced human judgement. AI can identify patterns and detect change, but context, interpretation and validation still matter enormously. The future is not automated research. It is human-led intelligence operating at a scale that was previously impossible. For operators, investors and suppliers, the next opportunity in the tness market will increasingly belong to those who can understand change earliest and respond fastest.
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026
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