How Blackrock Health & Fitness Uses LegitFit to Power a Safe, Community-Focused Gym in Dublin

Founded 2014. One of LegitFit's Original Customers. Year-on-Year Revenue Growth.

Neil Bowman opened Blackrock Health & Fitness in Blackrock, Dublin in 2014, after 14 years working in the fitness industry. What started as one-to-one personal training grew into kids' and adult boxing, group classes, and - after Neil took on a larger premises at the tail end of Covid - a full-scale fitness facility offering strength and conditioning alongside his boxing programs. Today, LegitFit sits at the centre of how Blackrock runs day to day, handling everything from bookings to member communication to merchandise sales.

Key Results

• Operating since 2014, with a major premises expansion completed at the end of the Covid period
• One of the first gyms to sign up with LegitFit
• Consistent month-on-month and year-on-year revenue growth since adopting the platform
• Automated re-engagement emails have reduced client drop-off
• New merchandise sales channel launched directly through the LegitFit app
• Multiple program lines run from one system: personal training, youth and adult boxing, and group classes

Training for Everyday Life, Not Just the Beach

Neil built Blackrock Health & Fitness around a simple idea: training should make life easier, not just make you look good for six weeks. He calls it his approach to longevity - helping members get through the school run, put in a good day at work, and still have the energy for golf, surfing, or whatever they love doing after hours.

"Training should make our daily lives easier. Getting up in the morning with the kids. Having more energy to just do your daily routine to get more out of work, but then in your downtime to be able to do those activities, be it golf, surfing, fishing, whatever you like to do. Being fit and healthy helps you do that, and that's why I believe people should train."

That philosophy shows up in how the gym feels day to day. Neil has built a safety-first environment that welcomes every fitness level, not just the already-fit.

"Clients mostly come here because they're looking for a safe place to train. An environment that's welcoming, open for all levels of fitness... I believe that we are delivering programs that are really beneficial for people's long term health."

The Challenge: Manual Admin Was Eating Into Growth

Before LegitFit, Neil ran everything by hand. As the client base grew, that meant longer nights spent logging bookings and payments after the gym had already closed.

"I was keeping track of everything manually. But as the number of clients grew and as the business grew, this was becoming even more of a hassle for me to have to go home at night to record everything."

What he needed was software that could:

• Handle bookings and payments without manual admin
• Stay simple enough for a self-described non-techy owner to run alone
• Keep clients engaged without extra staff time

Why Blackrock Health & Fitness Chose LegitFit

Neil found LegitFit on Instagram just as he was opening his new premises, and was drawn in by the idea of backing an Irish startup that seemed genuinely focused on what gym owners and their members actually needed.

"Then I heard, I think I saw LegitFit on Instagram, made contact with the guys and because they were a new Irish startup, I felt, well, you know what? I'm going to give them a go."

He became one of LegitFit's earliest customers - and says the platform's simplicity is still what he values most, especially given his own admission that he's "not great with computers."

"The reporting section on LegitFit I find very easy to use... I'm not great with computers. And I don't want something where I have to be clicking here and logging there and doing lots of different processes."

Turning Automated Reminders Into a Retention Tool

The feature that's changed the game for Blackrock Health & Fitness is LegitFit's automated member communication. Instead of Neil or his staff chasing down clients who've gone quiet, the system sends a reminder email the moment someone hasn't booked in for a week or two.

"My customers are getting that reminder email if they've fallen off or they haven't been here for a week or two... rather than the staff or myself physically having to do this ourselves and manually call or email them through an automated system... it means that we're not seeing clients drop off."

That same simplicity extends to newer parts of the business. Neil recently started selling merchandise - boxing gloves, hand wraps, and more - directly through the LegitFit app.

"I've got the ability to sell my boxing gloves, hand wraps, and the other bits and pieces that the customers can purchase. Again, it's taking a step and hassle out of it for me. They just go online, they purchase it, I see the sale and I can have those items ready for them when they come into the gym."

A Platform That Continues to Grow With the Business

More than a decade in, Neil still points to LegitFit's support as a big part of why he's stayed. Even as the company has scaled up, he says queries get handled fast.

"I was one of the first people I believe to sign up with them, and they were just really easy to deal with. Nothing was a chore. And to this day, even though they have expanded greatly, I find if I have a query or any sort of information I need, and the guys are very quick to respond and very efficient."

Looking ahead, Neil plans to expand Blackrock Health & Fitness’s youth training offering and build out a health and wellness program aimed at older adults who want to stay active and reduce long-term medical costs.

"I would hope to basically expand my offerings into youth training... And then developing a health and wellness program for older individuals looking to basically maintain their lifestyle, stay active, but also reduce their long term medical bills."

For Neil, LegitFit has become more than a piece of software - it's a genuine partnership he expects to keep building on.

"LegitFit in the future, I think will just be one of my partners because it's making everything streamlined. It's making it easier to make sales. And encourage new customers through referral schemes."

‍