UK Sport Chair Katherine Grainger met with the 11 sports that are losing all Olympic and Paralympic funding on Wednesday but admitted that she was "unable to promise them any money." The 11 are campaigning for every sport to be given a "base level of funding with extra money allocated depending on medal potential." Grainger said, "I wanted to meet them all so that they feel that they will be listened to, and I want to hear firsthand about their thinking and if, looking forward, anything can be done that is different" (LONDON TIMES, 8/30).
Low-cost fitness company Gym Group is "hoping to get some of its customers to flex their purse strings a bit more" and spend extra cash as part of a premium offering. For £5 ($6.46) extra per month, members will receive access to Gym Group's new product, Fitquest, a machine that assesses body composition and fitness levels, "as well as other benefits." The launch came as the company reported that its membership numbers rose by "nearly a fifth" to 508,000 in the six months to June 30. Revenue climbed 16% to £42.8M ($55.3M), while pre-tax profits jumped 75% to £5.9M ($7.6M) (London TELEGRAPH, 8/30).
