Stax launches 'Amida'

Stax Leisure is launching a new brand of club called Amida. The wellbeing brand follows the trend in the sector for an holistic approach to health and fitness, and is designed on Japanese Buddhist principles. The first club is currently under construction in Beckenham, Kent and will include a 28-station hydrotherapy pool, a 25m training pool, eight tennis courts, eight treatment rooms and a 'wellness studio' offering pilates, yoga, tai bo and reiki sessions. Amida is headed up by chief executive Graham Thomas and the former directors of the Racquets and Healthtrack Group. Thomas says Amida will offer a 'total wellbeing' approach that ordinary health clubs don't deliver: This shift in demand is more than a passing fad and many members' needs are not being adequately catered for in the majority of health clubs. The Beckenham club opens late autumn, with a second in Twickenham in planning.