Jubilee Hall Clubs is to implement a number of initiatives at Westminster Gym after renewing its management contract of the House of Commons’ facility.

The company beat 41 other contenders to secure the contract for the club, which has seen its membership increase by 84 per cent since Jubilee Hall took over its management in 1999.

Now, as part of a programme of continuous improvement, the company plans to further boost membership with a range of new initiatives such as the Time Walk walking programme. Free to members, a historical guide will lead the two- to five-mile walks, which will start and finish at the Westminster Gym.

Other initiatives include the outreach personal training programme, which will see personal trainers from the gym going out into the Parliamentary Estate to train time-poor workers in their offices.

With membership at the Westminster Gym now close to 1,000, the developments are expected to help ease congestion during busy periods.

Flexible programming has been introduced to alleviate overcrowding with instructors taking ad hoc classes as and when the gym fills up and the company is also considering cutting the price of its off-peak membership to further relieve overcrowding.

A new marketing campaign has also been developed alongside the initiatives, featuring a character well known to those in the Parliamentary Estate.

“We wanted to move away from the usual body beautiful images used in traditional health club advertising and put the fun back into fitness,” said Joe Haynes, manager of the Westminster Gym. “Big Ben has always been associated with Parliament and cartoons have always been associated with politics, so the character developed naturally from there.”