Les Mills International wins Services Exporter of the Year Award

November 15, 2007

Les Mills International (LMI), a company that puts the fun into working out with its exercise to music programmes, achieving unrivalled penetration of its international target markets, has won the 2007 Services Exporter of the Year Award.

The Award was presented to LMI at the New Zealand Export Awards in Auckland on 15 November. Services was one of seven sector awards, with the top prize, the DHL Supreme Exporter of the Year, won by IBEX Group of Companies.

The Export Awards judges said through the visionary leadership of founder Phillip Mills, the Board and chief executive, LMI has developed rapidly in recent years.

“The company’s ability to develop new products and enhance distribution relationships is a reflection of business vision, planning and capacity development. Managing for innovation through new products and programmes has always been a part of LMI’s success.”

NZTE Chief Executive Tim Gibson congratulated the seven 2007 Export Award winners, describing their achievements as inspirational.

“These companies represent a vibrant mix of successful export businesses; companies that have identified a gap in the marketplace and cultivated their point of difference to produce and distribute quality goods effectively in international markets, using a variety of business models.

“We need to see more New Zealand businesses following their lead and operating internationally in order to increase our global business footprint.

“My congratulations to all the finalists in this year’s Awards and my thanks for your willingness to stand up and stand out among your peers in Export Year. You are inspired and inspiring.”

LMI’s goal is to become one of the world’s top five health and fitness brands, as recognisable as Nike or Adidas. It’s a goal the Auckland firm is on track to achieve by 2015 said CEO Jill Tattersall, as it expands its global reach and adds to its product range. Its programmes are now found in North and South America, across Europe and Asia, even pockets of Africa.

Ms Tattersall said in the past 10 years LMI has achieved unrivalled penetration of its target market of full-service fitness clubs, raising penetration from a zero base to more than 30 percent in key European markets and 80 percent in Australia. Currently around 5 million people in 11,000 fitness clubs in more than 70 countries jam, punch, step and pump to its LES MILLS™ exercise-to-music programmes weekly.

LMI has developed eight branded programmes, which go by names like BODYCOMBAT™, BODYSTEP™, BODYPUMP™ and BODYJAM™. They are delivered by motivating instructors with the choreography and music renewed quarterly, a big factor in the growth of LMI’s customer base.

The firm’s network of international agents is critical to its performance. As well as marketing and distributing the programmes, they provide ongoing customer support, instructor training and education along lines prescribed by LMI. Agents are usually already running successful businesses in the fitness education and services sector and have good distribution networks into fitness clubs.

The culture in the Auckland office, where LMI has 52 staff, is big on innovation. In the past year, almost 10 percent of programme sales have been in products that have been in the market for less than five years, said Ms Tattersall.

The latest success to come out of LMI’s innovation pipeline is BODYVIVE™ - a low-impact programme for babyboomers which responds to ballooning rates of gym membership among people over 40.

Notes for Editors:

This is one of a series of eight media releases with detail of all seven category winners and the DHL Supreme Award winner.

More information on all of the finalists including images is available at www.exportawards.co.nz

Contact: Jill Tattersall, CEO, Les Mills International, phone 366 9900, email jill@lesmills.com, or Vaughan Schwass, Marketing Director, email Vaughan@lesmills.com, www.lesmills.com

Distributed by Jennifer Andrewes, Corporate Communications Manager, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, phone +64 4 931 6144, mobile +64 27 228 0261, or email mailto:jennifer.andrewes@nzte.govt.nz