Another sporting star picks a franchise investment as Wallabies star Dane Haylett-Petty signs up to a Fitstop franchise.
The Australian rugby union fullback and school friend, teammate and business partner Justin Turner will open the second Fitstop location in Perth before the end of 2021.
Haylett-Petty said “Both Justin and I have been watching this space for a while, and when we checked out Fitstop Melville and learnt about Fitstop’s vision and values, along with their unique functional-based training format and investment in the tech, we knew this was the right move for us.”
The pair are the latest high performance sports professionals to find business opportunities through franchising.
Earlier this year former AFL umpire and Collingwood AFLW operations manager Matt James and Daniel Harford, former AFL player and now head coach of Carlton AFLW launched Recovery Lab with former Western Force rugby union player Ben Seymour as business partner.
Cricketing great Shane Warne has partnered with Sport Star Academy to launch a cricket program, while Archie Thompson, former A-League football player, Socceroo and football personality joined Football Star Academy as a franchisee and ambassador mid-2020.
Guzman y Gomez has also attracted investment from premier sportspeople including Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, through investment syndicate Athletic Ventures, founded last year by GWS Giant Matt de Boer.
It was the Five Ventures Investment, another syndicate investment firm founded by professional athletes, that brought together Fitstop CEO, Peter Hull, and Haylett-Petty.
“We like to invest in businesses and founders we believe in. From our first chat, I loved Pete’s passion and drive,” said Haylett-Petty, who has relocated to Perth to lead business operations while Turner, a former Western Force scrumhalf, will head up the training.
Fitstop has five sites scheduled to open in Western Australia over the next few months and more in the pipeline.
“We have over 50 locations in the works across Australia and we’re so excited to have two really aligned people join our network and grow the Fitstop name in Perth,” Peter Hull said.
“We have dominated the Queensland market and with expansion in three other states, we’re on track to double our footprint in the next financial year.”
In June 2021 Fitstop partnered with global fitness chain Lift Brands in a multimillion-dollar deal to bolster international expansion.
Last year Fitstop was a national finalist in the Australian Emerging Franchisor of the Year category at the MYOB FCA Excellence in Franchising awards.
