Case study: Giving Gravity Fitness the financial tools needed to support their growth plans

From energetic trampoline fitness classes to indoor karting, from e-sports to virtual reality games: Gravity is making huge inroads in the fast-growing active entertainment sector. The company already operates multiple sites around the UK and is on track to achieve its ambitious growth plans over the next three years.

As these exciting changes were gathering momentum, it was clear to CFO, Martin Robinson, that the existing financial software simply wasn’t robust enough to keep pace with the business’ expansion plans. Upgrading to a more flexible and integrated solution was a priority.

We needed to be more dynamic and put in place a system that we knew we could grow with.

Martin Robinson, CFO, Gravity Fitness Ltd

Why was a new solution needed?

Gravity had grown out of the financial systems it had in place. The company had some software, but was also using multiple tools with separate logins as well as hundreds of separate spreadsheets, some with up to 50 tabs incorporated.

In addition, users were copying and pasting data into Excel in order to balance, report, manipulate and consolidate. All of this was time-consuming and problematic; understandably producing accurate reports had become more and more complicated.

There was another issue too. Because the business was going through an IPO process, improved visibility across the financial data was imperative. Internal finance staff as well as Gravity’s auditors and accountants were all feeling the pressure.

It was great in the early days but it felt like the wheels were in danger of coming off. We had one solution for payroll, another for the PO side of things, plus a lot spreadsheets to manipulate the data. There was a lot of manual process that we needed to get away from and this was the ideal time to do it.

Martin Robinson, CFO, Gravity Fitness Ltd

Making life easier

Gravity had been looking at other systems for about three years. Clearly potential providers needed to demonstrate a clear understanding of what the business needed – and cost also played a huge part in the decision-making process.

Initially, Gravity opted for Access Financials and Access Expense. This solution will grow with the business, ensuring that all the key functions are streamlined, the need for endless spreadsheets and transferring data is removed, and the Finance function is empowered to work more effectively. It also provides far more efficient reporting capabilities, a vital addition at this pivotal point the company’s development.

Another of the key factors which swayed their decision to choose Access was the breadth of compatible options that could be added further down the line. For growth businesses like Gravity, ensuring today’s solution is future-proofed is a key consideration.

I like the fact that we can tap into other APIs with Access. I think the journey we're on, I know what good looks like now, what the team needs, and what they're going to need going forward as well.

Martin Robinson, CFO, Gravity Fitness Ltd

Working together has proved a positive and collaborative experience. The Access approach is driven by the people involved and each client works with a consistent team from the outset through to implementation and beyond. Martin agrees this is entirely different to other providers who, in his experience, can treat customers as a number rather than show that personal touch.

What next for Gravity?

Looking forwards, the Gravity senior team may decide to add to the solution when they’re ready to tender for new systems such as EPOS and Payroll, both of which can be provided by Access and integrate with their existing solution.

We've just employed a head of IT and he's mapped out how he will go out to tender for new systems. Access is very much at the forefront of his thoughts with that.

Martin Robinson, CFO, Gravity Fitness Ltd